The eclipse
by Purpleground
Summary: It was a normal day when the sun suddenly grew dark. And Shifu started to worry. It is an omen, a warning for an old forgotten tale to repeat itself. This time, everyone's childhood story, far and ignored, is coming true. Are they ready to believe?
1. Chapter 1

Thanks for coming

Disclaimer: I still don't own Kung Fu Panda.

First, I would like to thank Luna Goldsun for giving beta to this story. I really appreciate it. Now, I would like to note that, Tai Lung is in this story. He survived the Wuxi Finger, and is alive and jumping. There's so many fan fics out there you can look on if you want. But my story only emphasized on what happened next after he joined. Good?

Let's start:

* * *

**Day 1**

Shifu stared at the sky, frowning. It had been hours since the eclipse started. Normally a total solar eclipse would only lasted for few minutes, but from the look of it, this time, it's different. He feared that this phenomenon will affect their welcoming preparations for their guests.

He received a letter approximately one week ago. Apparently, some kung fu masters from the south wished to visit them; they requested to challenge their highest kung fu master in a friendly match. They identified themselves as the Southern Iron Dragon Clan, who was on their way travelling around the lands of China to fight worthy foes. And Shifu accepted their arrival, along with their request, although Po excessively objected the idea. It took him several tries before the panda finally gave in. Since then, Po had been training harder day by day. Shifu even had him battled the other masters, one too many. Now, he was certain that Po would put up a good fight. Next, all they needed to do was to welcome their guests the next, next day.

Sitting under the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, Shifu played his flute to calm himself. It was mid-afternoon, the land bathed in the waning light as the sun slowly sank behind the mountains, dotting the landscape before him. He ceased playing, the need to play suddenly lifting.

Shifu let out a sigh. "I should go and check on it." He stood up, and plodded back into the palace, carrying the flute behind his back.

There was definitely something going on behind this eclipse. By all means, it wasn't natural. Maybe he can find the answers among the old scrolls. But first, he needed to worry about getting himself cloaked by dusts.

*

Po was in the market with his dad, who never stopped sharing his obsession with noodles. Once the goose found out there was going to be a festival soon, he couldn't stop blabbering about the business they would get.

But Po was absentminded for the whole time. He constantly stared at the sky, wondering about the rare phenomenon. His father's words fell on deaf ears until the goose made himself heard.

"Son!" Mr. Ping called. "Are you listening?"

"Oh.. urmmm, yeah, sure. I am listening all the time, Dad."

_Oops._

"Really?" said the goose suspiciously, hands over his waist. "As I was saying, we will need four packs of noodles, five cabbages, twenty red onions, eight blocks of tofu, and four rows of—Po, don't look at the sky that often, son. You might burn your own eyes!"

Po stammered, "Oh okay."

The goose sighed, "Look, I know the eclipse actually lasted for hours, but there isn't anything to worry about, son.

"Now," he clapped his hands together, looking excited. "Let's go to the next store. I still got a bag of salt to buy!"

Just then, Po had a glimpse of Tigress among the crowd. She was standing in front of a grocery shop, arms folded across her chest. When Po focused more on her, he was surprised to see her eyes staring straight at him. Among the busy street, their gazes met like there was nothing between them. Po nervously cracked a smile. And Tigress did the same, but her smile was more sincere.

There had been these awkward feelings lately. Po was definitely crushing on her, and had been for a long time, yet he could not put it into words. He was afraid of rejection, cast away from the person he loved. Although he had been keeping this little secret for months, bit by bit he knew it was leaking. Soon, everyone would know… somehow.

*

In his quarters, Shifu was pouring over the scrolls when someone knocked on his door.

"Yes, who is it?" he asked, pausing his studies.

"It's me," Tai Lung's voice came behind the door. "The armored bull is intact, and the firecrackers are stocked, as you've ordered."

The door swung open, and Shifu's head peered through the gap. He exchanged a silent greeting with Tai Lung, and said, "Good, that will be all. Anything else?"

Tai Lung thumbed over his shoulder, "I presumed you noticed the eclipse today is unspeakably long? Any superstition you wanna share? I am all ears."

So, Tai Lung was worried too, Shifu thought. "Yes, I am checking it now," replied Shifu. "I'll tell you if I find any."

After Tai Lung walked away, he shut the door, and continued his reading. He had a mind on the longest eclipse he ever heard, but he couldn't remember the details. If he was not mistaken, he learnt about it when he was young from Master Oogway. But it was some sort of fairy tale, he thought.

Still, he wanted to be sure. He tore open scrolls after scrolls, scanning the old parchments stored in his rack, one after another. It was a troublesome work, and he should have ignored the unusual eclipse like anyone else; doing his meditation instead of this. Yet the worries never escaped him. The eclipse was an omen. And he was sure of that.

*

Shifu was running toward the kitchen before dinner. As he had hoped, everyone was there.

"Master," his students greeted upon seeing him.

Their master was panting, "I've…It's a…bad." He shook his head, rephrasing himself quickly. "I have a very bad news."

"Really?" Po asked nervously, "Is it about my cooking?"

Shifu suddenly went blank on his expression. "What's wrong with your cooking?"

"Nah… Urh…." Po stammered. "Nevermind."

"Go on, master," Tigress said.

"The eclipse!" Shifu pointed at the sky outside the window. "It's a signal before the Hell Gate opens!"

"Huh!?"

"Hell gate?! What hell gate?"

Shifu took out the scroll tied to his sash, unrolled it, and placed it on the table. Everyone darted their eyes across it.

"Wait a sec," Mantis said, after reading the title. "This is an old children's story."

"Yes it is," Shifu snapped impatiently.

"But-"

"It's an old tale," Tigress interrupted at Crane, "To motivate the kids for courage, right?"

"I hoped it was," Shifu said. "But look here." He took out a small note somewhere - the note was brown with age and well worn.

"This is a piece of Juang Gong's memoir. It said that," He began to read out loud. "'A solar eclipse, lasting for a whole day has just happened. It's an odd moment. Though no much knowledge is known regarding this phenomenon, most chose to ignore. But who could judge, that it was a warning before the demons from hell were released'." He paused to look at them. When everyone was silent, he continued,

"'Before dawn, we were awakened by a horrible otherworldly sound. Next thing we knew, demons walked the earth in daylight, rampaging the land. They are the dead, the lost souls who can't rest in peace." Viper gasped in horror, but Shifu continued. "'Brave warriors were no match for the demons. They are outnumbered. But the most formidable among them was a six foot, giant monster. It scavenges any dead bodies it could find. Our people were killed one by one. Until we thought we had met our doom, the new daylight dawned, followed by a pitch that screamed by the land. The third day, was a signal before the gate closed."

Everyone jaws had dropped in horrified silence, and he wasn't going to blame them, because he was no different. "So," Po started. "The first day you said. Is today right? And the second will be-"

"Tomorrow!" Shifu snapped, panting hard. His eyes were unfocused, scanning them from one to another. "Tomorrow" he repeated, clearing his throat. "Will be the day the Hell Gate opens."

Silence hung in the air. Po slipped a quick peak at Tigress to see her reaction. No, she was as surprised as him.

Shifu closed his eyes and shook his head.

"What now, Master?" Viper asked.

The red panda sighed, "We have no choice. We have to evacuate the village."

"What?!" shouted his students altogether.

"We are leaving this place…for good?" Tigress asked.

"No," Shifu reassured. "We aren't moving out. We will come back once the threat is over-"

"Whoa, stop right there, master," Tai Lung protested. "Are you forgetting the fact that we are the best warriors in China?"

Shifu looked menacingly at him. "I've thought about it before. But even if we were able to fight them, the villagers might get in the way, get killed, or worse."

"Okay, before that," Mantis interrupted. "Are you saying this story is real?!"

"From what I can come up with," Shifu said. "The original event was recorded by Juang Gong. And later, someone else probably rewrote it into a story for remembrance."

"That's a theory?"

"Yes, it is a theory… for now."

Tai Lung nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'll buy it… 'for now'." He emphasized the last two words, pantomiming the quotations with his pincers.

"Master, where is this gate going to open?" Tigress asked.

Much to her surprise, Shifu couldn't answer. "I… err…" He snatched the scroll from the table and read it for the second time, eyes darting quickly from side to side. He read out the contents when he found it:

"_The demons were spawned at the world's end. From which no lands lie further beyond, covered by a thick layer of eternal mist, it marks the bottomless end of everything."_

"End of the world?!" Po widened his eyes. "But, the world is… Round, right guys?"

Tigress let out a sigh, and said, "Yes it is."

"This scroll was written long before us," Shifu continued. "They might've only reached a cliff or something,"

"If you ask me," Crane said. "That sounded like The Mountain Pass and the Devil's Mouth. You know, the 'no land further' and the mist description?"

Shifu abruptly widened his eyes. "Of course!" He searched the scroll for the written date. When he had confirmed, he held the scroll beside him, and said, "This scroll was written during the third ruler of the valley. But the Thread of Hope was only constructed during the twentieth ruler, Jiao Ching."

Silence slipped in once again, and Shifu continued. "So, it would be possible that Juang Gong, far from knowing the truth, believed that they had reached the end of the world – currently known as The Mountain Pass." He paused at what he had said; one of his eyes twitched.

Tai Lung laughed sarcastically at his reaction. "That only draws to one simple conclusion."

"Hell Gate," Tigress whispered. "Will spawn _before_ the Thread of Hope."

"Bingo." Tai Lung pointed at her.

Viper frowned. "This is bad. That's our only way out."

Shifu started to pace back and forth, thinking about his options. Po looked out at the night sky. The moon was half way up. It will be at least ten hours before dawn.

"We won't get out in time," said Shifu suddenly. "Not with the villagers. Instead, we will have to lead them here."

"What!?"

"You heard'im." Tai Lung smirked. "Get them far from 'the hell' right?"

"Yes."

"But what about dinner!?" Po hastily asked.

He couldn't smile at Po's childishness at a time like this, so he said, "You can have your dinner first, while I go inform the magistrate. Evacuate the villagers once you're done, start with the ones closest to The Mountain Pass."

"I'm coming with you master," Tigress stood up.

"No," Shifu insisted. "I will go alone. Save me some dinner, I will have them later." With that, he paced out of the room, leaving his students in the kitchen.

The magistrate, he thought - a pig with a black spot at his right eye - was elected not long after the Palace started receiving new students. Sometimes he wished he hadn't done that to lessen his burdens. He never thought that pig was that ugly to him, until he started running the village in a reckless manner. He was a total miser, and whatever he said was law. Most of the time, he would send a messenger to consult with him (definitely not himself), but ninety percent of his advices were not taken. To him, the magistrate only did so to please the villagers that he had 'consulted' Master Shifu. This little doing had definitely dropped his 'wise reputation' among the people.

Shifu slipped a sigh. Frankly, his skull is as hard as a rock, and his brain is as tiny as a peanut. It would be a problem reasoning with the pig - to evacuate the village over a children's story.

His house was easy to find, since it was the largest, most luxurious in the valley. It was located in a large clearance fenced by heavy concrete. There were two guards by the entrance, but they immediately let him past as soon as they recognized him. Shifu walked over the yard, passing many sculptures on his way – pigs, birds, rabbits, most of them were females.

What a letch I've chosen, he thought. The entrance of the mansion was a giant, steel door covered in fine sculptures. Shifu exhaled deeply before knocking.

Instantly, he heard a faint response behind the door. "Coming…" It was female. It should be one of the maids. The door swung open after a few clicks and clacks, revealing a middle-aged rabbit. She had a hard time recognizing his face under the torches, but she quickly bowed when it became clear to her. "Master Shifu! What can I do for you?"

Shifu nodded in silent. "I want to see Magistrate Kuang immediately."

"Yes, right away. But please wait for him at his office. The magistrate has gone to bed quite a while ago."

Typical, he thought, but nodded quietly as a response. The magistrate treated himself like the king of the valley, a useless, foolish king at that. Shifu waited at his office as promised, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently. It might take half an hour to get that pig over here.

There was a cupboard where he saw a tremendous display of priceless treasures. From the left, he saw the ancient plate of Mu Zau. Placing at its right, the Gold Urn of the Twin Dragons, followed by the Blue Thunder Dagger, the blow horns of Hanzu, the Jade of Temaski, Jar of Unicho…

He stopped when the door behind him swung open.

"Ah, Master Shifu!" The magistrate greeted lightly as he walked in. "What a surprise to see you here!" He was still wearing his blue-and-white striped pajamas. The maiden stood quietly behind him. She disappeared when the door closed.

"I bring urgent news," Shifu replied firmly. He stood at where he was, watching the magistrate slowly slipped into his comfy chair. "I'm going to get straight to the point. We have to evacuate the entire village to the Jade Palace immediately."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… " The magistrate looked uneasy. "Calm down, Master Shifu." He waved in the air. "Now, Why so?"

This is the hardest part, he thought. He splattered the scroll on his table, along with the parchment written by Juan Gong. Carefully lining up his words, Shifu began explaining the phenomenon one after another.

*

By now, his students were standing at the edge of the village. A path curved itself beyond their vision at front, enclosed by thousands of old woods. The full moon shone brightly above their head, illuminating the darkness in a weak milky light.

"All right." Po clasped his hands. "Let's get the show on the roll."

"Sure, sure," said Tai Lung impatiently. "But in case you haven't noticed, it's the middle of the night. Everyone was probably sleeping right now."

"Try cockle-doodle."

"Ain't funny mantis."

"Hey, I was wondering," Po said. "Do you think we're a bit rushed on this eclipse?"

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked, sounded a bit agitated.

"I…was…Urmmm… _May-be _we need more proof on this," Po replied. "You know? Some kind of 'okay' sign." His facial gesture was completely tense. Po was certain that Tigress would do something horrible to him, but instead, he received a frown from her.

"Yeah," Tigress let out a sigh. "As much as I hate to admit, I was worried too."

"Hey, hey, hey. Are you saying that Master Shifu is making the wrong choice?!" Crane hastily interrupted.

"No," she snapped back, but after giving a thought about it, she cast her gaze to the ground. "Yes."

"Hate to break it to you," Tai Lung waved around to get their attention. "I'm not here to flutter that old geezer, you got it? But he often sees stuff that we can't. He spent most of his life reading thousands of boring scrolls, and I think he's good enough to tell the difference between the truth and fiction. It's a kind of thinking that you will develop after being a bookworm for a very long time. You get it?"

Tigress glared him. "No."

"Fine!" barked Tai Lung, crossing his arms. "My point is: I think that we best follow his order, one way or another. And in case his prediction is wrong," he chuckled evilly, "Not my problem."

*

"I am telling you!" Shifu furiously slammed Magistrate Kuang against the wall, lifting him by his collar. The pig's large snout hung inches before the red panda's face as he grilled the swine. "There will be hell by the day of tomorrow!"

The pig smirked, "You can't possibly believe such an old story was true?"

"I _do _believe it!"

"Look, with all my respect, you are making a quick jump on here."

"You won't find any eclipse that last for a day would you?!"

"No, but maybe one in a million."

"Nonsense, this is the sign!"

"Are you certain this is the one? We've only seen the eclipse so far. There is no other matching evidence."

The red panda dropped the pig to his feet, stepping back. Well, for some reason, this pig was good at arguing.

Shifu ran through the memoir once again. "Somehow, the record existed. So it's better to be safe than sorry."

"But," Mayor Kuang reminded. "You are saying that you aren't sure if it's really true?"

"I… "

For that very brief moment, Shifu couldn't think of anything. He certainly had no guarantee it was the eclipse stated in the story. Maybe it was. But what if it was not? What would he say to the villagers? He might get thousands of complaints if he raised a false alarm by the middle of the night. If that was not all, hiking all the way towards the Jade Palace took hours, and approximately 7 hours for those living at the edge of the valley. If they chose to act _after_ the gate opened, it will be too late. However, if they moved early but ended up with a false decision, he was screwed. It was a simple choice, but with extremely high risks. Shifu was lost in his thoughts, rooted to the floor speechlessly while he stared at it.

"Okay," the mayor smiled. "If you wished to discuss it further, we can continue it tomorrow. I'm a busy man you know, but I can relocate some time for you." He grinned. "At a restaurant, that is."

Shifu stared menacingly at the black-eyed pig. He felt being pushed aside like a useless servant over a cunning master. Still, it was clear that he lost the argument, as much as he wanted to give the pig a matching black eye. All he got was a theory; a blind guess. In his life, he had seen a lot of people throwing in their theories like mad. But most of the time, they were easily rejected. Looking down at his situation now, Shifu was becoming one of those 'brilliant' people.

He shrugged it off. What about the students he had sent? Have they started the evacuation? Should he call it off? What if the story was true? Then again, what if it was false?

Finally, he let out a deep sigh over his decision. I should call it off, he thought grimly.

"Let's hope I'm not too late for that."

Just when he began to pace out of the room, a loud scream pierced through the open windows. It was so loud that both he and the magistrate had to cover their ears. Every glass in the room broke; every urn and every jar. The scream definitely didn't belong to their world – It was blood-chilling. Started high-pitched, but slowly turned into a monstrous roar that trailed for a long time. Kuang lost his sense of balance, tumbling to the ground. Shifu felt the same. His ears were ringing horribly as his senses started to daze. But as a stronger person, he managed to stay on his feet. The scream died out slowly, yet he could hear the echoes rippling across the valley.

*

"What the heck was that?" Tai Lung asked, covering his ears like the others. They heard the scream too, but it was louder as they were outside.

"No idea," Po shrugged. "But it's the _Exhibit_ _B_ we wanted alright."

Everyone slowly uncovered their ears. At the same time, the houses in the valley started to light up one after another; voices started swarming the disturbed night.

"Hey, guess what." Mantis laughed. "It was the alarm clock we needed."

*

Shifu looked outside the window, noticing the villagers awakening. Behind him stood the disoriented magistrate, still trembling in terror. He gave a yelp when Shifu turned to him.

"Stay here if you want," the master threatened. "I'm taking the villagers… with, or without you."

"I'm definitely going! Oh, please TAKE me with you!" The mayor started to kneel in front of him, begging unstoppably.

So this is the magistrate I chose, he thought. Shifu gave a sympathetic smile. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

* * *

Now, I was thinking a lot in this story. And this story reflected some of the small thingies I've gone through in my daily life. No, I am not saying that my life was interesting... .

Anyhow, hope you enjoyed. PLease review. I'd like to hear your voices.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow... Chinese New Year is coming along great! And its pretty busy this year. I barely had the chance to sit in front of my com. But of course, I just did. =P

Thanx for the support People!

Now let's start.

--

--

Exposing their emotions...

Heed their desire....

Look through their eyes...

Tie the events together...

Here are their stories.

**Day 2 : The Chronicles  
**

**

* * *

Master Shifu**

Six hours had passed.

Six hours and zero-three minutes to be exact.

My students and I were once again rallied together, with hundreds of villagers tailing behind us. The evacuation progress was a bit delayed due to the presence of old folks. Not what to complain, but the magistrate was giving me a headache. He kept complaining about how awkward the chances of reaching the palace in time.

True. I must agree. But the words became repeatedly annoying.

The dawn was coming, and the night sky costively faded, along with the stars that hanged above. Bit by bit, the white moon turned into a black spot in the sky, moving sluggishly above us. Within another hour, the sun aroused from the east, illuminating a thin line of white ray that separate the sky and the land.

Our shadows were stretched long across our feet - thousands as we travelled in pack. Our energy was greatly deteriorated; a common evidence for us to had walked 3 miles without a pause.

I had acquired the help of the town guards – a few rhinos and a commanding officer named Jong. Now, Jong was a fighter I never trained, but with a remarkable skill that easily topped over casual bandits. His rhino body was the main advantage he could had, easily overpowered the small without a proper fighting stance. Things kind of went easy for him. We were not that close, but whenever things get nasty in the village, he was the one I could go for answer.

For now, Jong had the guards circled around the group, keeping watch for invading demons. I really doubted their skills, but I really needed the help I could get.

It was my job to direct the citizen, so I chose to do so on a roof. Staring down at them, I spotted some villagers dazing into the sky. First, I was a bit agitated, but then I felt the same curiosity, and let myself a slight peak.

I froze; horrified as I noticed the ball of white fire was no longer visible. The moon had shifted its hold directly in front of it, leaving only a thin line of ring vulnerable to my view.

Great, the eclipse had started. And I wasn't aware of it.

Glancing back to the busy crowd, I hastily looked for my students. Tigress was way ahead, helping an old folk pulling his carriage. Lovely. The big panda was packing his dad's noodle stand. Crane was busy rallying a group of naughty children. Monkey and Mantis were far out of sight. And where is that snow leopard?

Just then, a hair raising scream came from behind, way behind the crowd. It was a girl, and she sounded in danger. Not taking a brief stop, I tip toed my way across the roof, running to the source of the scream.

Jong had started giving orders to his men, brushing briskly through the crowd with speed. But I was quicker, since there was no obstacle for me to deal with.

When I came across a scattering crowd, I finally had a glimpse on the matter.

* * *

**Tai Lung**

I had to ask, where is that master when you need one?

I furiously blitz into the armies, kicking and tearing them apart with my claws. A normal act for an aggressive person like me, there wasn't anything this enjoyable since my fight with the dragon warrior.

Hate to admit though, these sand guys were a pain in the ass. I didn't expect them to come out in such a hurry; and in a pack too. Well, if I've chosen to stay at the front, I won't be the lucky guy holding them back right now. Funny now that I had seen them. These sand demons looked just like normal living organisms to me, goes with crocs, oxen, foxes, wolves, cats, and rabbits. They were trying to break their way into the crowd, but just my day, I had decided to be their hero…

Killing them one after another was satisfying, but somehow I noticed, that most of these dead folks, resembled warriors (former), while some of them were farmers, as observed by the spade and pitch forks they tried to hit me with. How stupid. You really think these giant forks would scare me?

I dodged a strike from them, pulling the weapon off, and yanked it back at them. Upon killing, they just crumbled into dust.

I stared at the pile for a sec, wondering where was the blood I wanted. Well, I just needed to get use to it. The weapons they used were mostly made out of stones, not metal. But one hit from these still proved fatal. Not a problem, I just needed treat them the same as I had treated the _real_ weapons.

Just then, Shifu leaped down to give a sand ox a stomp at the head, splattering the whole body into million of dusts particles.

"Where've you been?!" I barked, but Shifu ignored the question.

"How long since they arrived?"

"Just a while ago," I responded lazily. "Hey, hate to tell ya, there is more coming."

Ha-ha. I just said that. What was charging in front of us of course - thousands of sand armies, was only a part of the millions. They had the whole village by now, spreading at the size of other world, a world completely made out of sand. Yeah, you can start imagine how many sand peoples I can kill next.

Shifu retaliated a strike from his enemy. "Lost your fighting spirit?"

Is that a challenge?

"No," I murmured, kicking off a sand bull. "In case you've forgotten, we haven't slept for 24 hours. I LOVE to fight." I punched deep into an enemy's face. "But I don't do stupid things."

Shifu chuckled. Guess he can't agree more.

I caught a glimpse of him side stepping a flying spear.

He caught it by the end, swung it around, and sent it straight at the enemies. Sadly, what it does was only making a dot hole through their bodies.

Of course, they were already dead, I told myself. In the real world, they should have hit the ground by then. But this time, these animated sand dummies don't feel any less.

"Try this." I skillfully kicked up a saber. With another swing of my leg, I sent it hurling towards the enemies. It spun like a razor blade, cutting through countless of heads in its flight; the headless dummies crumbled into dust at their fall, dead, as in, die for the second time.

I turned to him, smirking at my work.

"Not bad." Shifu nodded.

* * *

**Master Mantis**

Using my small body as an advantage, killing these sand peoples were as easy as taking candy from a kid. And frankly, they were as dumb as they look. But I hate to admit it, with my condition like this, I ain't picking anymore fight. But it seemed inevitable. These sand zombies just keep coming in like swarms, hordes of buzzing bees. Seriously, buzzingly buzzing. I was at the west side of the evacuation when they hit us. Knowing nothing else that I can do, I just faced them. Head on.

People were screaming everywhere, and it took me a while to get used to it. That fur ball (Monkey) was nowhere to be seen. A while ago, we received an order from Tigress, telling us to spread over the villagers, covering their back while they evacuate. But I preferred to use the word 'run' b'cause they don't do any help.

Good thing. Master Shifu was right, fighting with the villagers running around wasn't easy. I had managed to save a couple of slowpokes from their doom, but doing so, I had to be everywhere to keep up with their pace. Man, it was tiring. I wished I had longer legs.

Tigress was taking the lead, no doubt, to make sure the villagers were going to the right direction. Although I was busy assaulting the enemies, I had spotted her carrying a wounded rhino on her shoulders. And I must say, I'm pretty impressed.

* * *

**Master Viper**

More and more belongings were abandoned in the chase, and upon reaching the stairs. I shouted over the people, "This way up!"

Tigress told me to take the lead, while she helped a couple of folks. I didn't asked what troubles she beckoned. There was no time for chit chat.

Among the towering people, I curled, and poked up my head, scanning the disturbed atmosphere. That's when I caught a glimpse on Po talking to his dad. It wasn't so loud, but I still managed to hear what they had said.

"Dad, I'm going to leave you now, okay? I got business to deal with," the panda said.

His dad, ever so cheerful and excited, blinked his eyes with a smile, and said, "Good luck."

Good luck, I repeated myself, was all we needed right now. We were not in the right condition to fight. And I am sure everyone followed the same.

I turned to look at the streets, spotting more of the sand people charging out from the back alleys. Crane jumped in right before it hits the crowd, pushing them back with punches and kicks.

I hoped the others were doing well by themselves. It will be bad if anyone of us slipped a leg at the time like this.

I was at the level of waist height, peering my way through the mob when Tigress walked past me, carrying a rhino on her shoulder. She looked boosted over the weight. Luckily, a few rhinos came for her call.

"Thanks for the help," said the commanding officer. "We will take it from here."

Slipping out a word of gratitude, Tigress turned to me. "Hey," she muttered. "Do you think you can lead these guys to the palace?"

This situation wasn't calling for another argument. "Sure, why not," I indirectly showed my agreement.

Of course, the reason was clear: she would never stay on the bench, even if it means risking her life over my threatening venoms.

Instantly, we are jumped by a monstrous roar, reaping the senses out of our head. The crowd came pushing their way up the stairs, frightened and panicked. Some people were screaming at the top their lungs. I managed to escape, but Tigress was caught in the stream, slowly staggering to where they were heading.

Great. Now, the switching jobs ended with an answer.

"Go help the others!" She shouted over the screams, and I'm glad she said so. "I will take them to the palace!"

That was the last command before we separated. I was hoping to see each others well after this. But we were merely deciders for our lives, heaven knows what's going to happen next.

* * *

**Master Monkey**

The roar came like a thunder. Whatever it was, it was very close to where I am. I looked down at the busy street, over the windows, and eventually found my answer high up into the sky. My mouth did nothing but gapped.

What is that thing? I heard myself whispered.

Approximately a few blocks from where I'm standing, there was a huge, six legged beast, creeping among the houses. It easily towered over the structures, so there wasn't any problem spotting it. The monster resembled the form of an alligator, howling under the black sun. It was tripled the size of a full grown whale. A colossus indeed. And heavily spiked like a porcupine. The snake tongue sniffed in and out of its mouth. It constantly peered down the streets, searching for something.

Without a doubt, this should be the scavenger Master Shifu had told us about.

Staring at it further, I saw its head suddenly barged into a direction, as if it had spotted something, yet the answer was far off my sight.

The monster let out a roar, began to charge at the direction it looked. To tell the truth, its colossal movements were hard to miss. The ground trembled beneath my feet. It was surprisingly fast, clumsy, but demonically energetic. The houses creaked at its movements, as if begging for it to stop. I tried to trail its movement, but the structures were blocking my view, maybe I need to get a little bit higher.

Just then, I saw Crane flew by. "Monkey!" He called, "Let's get out of here!"

You bet.

Taking a race behind him, I spotted Mantis clinging on the bird's feathers.

"What happened!?" I shouted, slipping my way across the pillars. "What is that thing chasing?"

"Easy to guess," Mantis answered. "Master Shifu and Tai Lung."

I couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow. "What!?"

'Don't look at me," Mantis held up his arms. "They volunteered."

Volunteered was the word that nudged me.

Upon reaching to a higher platform, I finally had a chance to see our master. He was leaping across the roofs, running and ordering Tai Lung as they dodged the snapping jaws of the monster. It was a mad chase among the roofs. The monster was acting like a cat spattering the ground over a cricket. And I swore we could hear the crumbling houses from here.

"They will lead the monster away from us," Crane explained, souring over a beam. "Po will join them later."

"The Dragon Warrior?"

"Yeah," Mantis added. "But we got another problem."

"What's that?"

Crane turned to me, taking a smooth sailing. "The sand armies had reached the palace."

I frowned, ducking between the gaps among the structures. "What about the girls, are they at the palace?"

"Yeah." Mantis nodded. "With some kung fu masters from the academy."

"The academy?"

"'The Academy', definitely not from ours," Mantis gave me a look. "Our trainees were too little to fight."

"Got that right," Crane muttered.

Finally, the structures ended with an opening ground. Down beneath us, marched the army of dead. They didn't seemed to spot us just yet. But I had to gasp, when I saw the thousands steps leading towards the Jade Palace was flooded with them. Every corner, every inch, the armies covered the ground like a sand of carpet.

"Monkey, grab on!" Crane shouted.

And I followed, leaping off the edge, I caught his skinny little legs on my fall. The bird let out an "Oof!" sound when my weight added to his wings. For a moment, I thought we were taking a crash landing into the dead. Mantis and I were screaming so hard, but our panic quickly turned into humiliation when the bird finally soured into the sky.

After that thrill, my grips had unconsciously tightened. My legs and tail had curled into a hook. Pretty funny if you see a monkey doing that on the legs of a crane.

"Next time!" I heard Mantis shouted. "Take a practice on Po!"

* * *

**Master Tigress**

While Viper and I fend for the palace, the villagers were locked up tight in the Sacred Halls of Warriors, The help given by the academy warriors were pretty much a burden. In exchange for their aid, we were bounded to save them from death. Indirectly. We ran from corridors to rooms, clearing out the sand dummies as we go.

But no matter how much enemies we had killed, new ones just crawled through the walls like cockroaches. In fact, they came in more than we can kill.

"Look out!" I swiftly pulled over a rhino from a swinging mace, and leaved him slumped onto the floor. Within another second, I was charging across the corridor, kicking and punching my way through a stream of sand soldiers. They were easy to kill, I will give them that. But things changed when an arrow pierced through the paper wall, taking a land inches before my face.

It had me stunted over a second, before I heard the commanding officer - Jong was his name - shouted from the end of a corridor. "Arrows incoming!"

Everyone began to dart, screaming down the hall way when the arrows rained through the paper walls.

"Get out of here, now!"

"Everyone, this way!"

A town guard had received an arrow over his chest, crashing lifelessly through a wall. I wanted to help, but staying here means _me_ joining him in an arrow bath.

I ran as fast as I can, leaving the enemies dangling behind me, dying as their own arrows consumed them whole. Out of the odds, I came across a paper sign, which I could not bare but to laugh.

It reads: No running in the hall.

* * *

**Po Ping**

The beast was huge! You gotta see it! I wished it was on our side, especially when we faced thousands of fearsome enemies. That will be awesome. But then again, we might had problem fulfilling his appetite. It eats meat! I don't know if it's true yet but I am not going to find out.

There was a pole stuck in its right eye – the work of Shifu saving Tai Lung's butt from getting eaten by the monster. It was astounding to see his long aiming shot, but not really that awesome when the monster got rampaged over the pain. The town was no longer standing as usual; there was a huge clearing, a flat ground in the middle thanks to it. We hovered over the roof top, searching for the monster. Oh yeah, did I just used the word "searching"? Impossible eh? Yeah, I felt pretty weird when we were trying our best to look for something so ridiculously big, and still not spotting it. It vanished under the cloud of dust, like a ninja, which is cool, but it's not that kind of cool. We were on his lunch menu. That explained most of the stuffs, didn't it? Of course, none of us living people would ever expected, that it had dug underground.

"Where is it?!" Tai Lung growled, eyes darting everywhere.

"I don't know," I shrugged.

The house beneath our feet suddenly burst through, pieces shooting everywhere while the three of us struggled to get away. Out of the dust, I saw its jaw opened beneath us.

"Danger below! Don't look down!" shouted Tai Lung.

Too late, "Oh no! I looked down!..... Arggghh!!!"

Screaming and shouting our way helped a little, I think. And Shifu was the first one to leap out of danger. I, however, ran out of stepping platforms and began to fall.

Luckily, Shifu came back. With concentrated Chi at his palms, he gave the monster a jab at its head, sending the skull crushing into the market alley. The goods scattered everywhere as a result of the impact. Oh man, I saw a watermelon flew by, it's a juicy one.

Landing at its forehead, I continued to tumble down along the spine, hitting the ground seconds later. Dust was covering the air, and the ground shock beneath my feet. Aside from the booming sounds of the crushing steps, I could hear the others shouting for me to get out. Oh yeah, it's time to run alright, because staying there would mean being squashed like a bug. See that gigantic crocodile feet? I bet it was the grave to many before me.

A powerful wave of the air hurled above my head, and I almost lost my balance. Staggering my way across the destroyed earth, I heard Tai Lung shouted something. I looked up, just in time to catch a horrifying scene. Up in the sky, Shifu was getting a humongous tail whip. He flew over a long distance, landing lifelessly on a roof.

By that time, Tai Lung was standing a few blocks ahead, cursing something before running towards our fallen master. I was about to do the same, until the creature began to take the lead. Crumbling through the towering buildings, it moved at such a pace that both of us knew… We can't get to Shifu before it does. What's more with us barely dodged over the crushing steps of the monster, scattering on the floor like ants on top of a hot pan. It was frustrating. We were eating its dust, and I hate to imagine us moaning our master's grave.

No, did I just imagine that? Oh man.

"Po!" called Tai Lung. I was surprised that I had over past him. "For what I'm going to do next, I want you to know this is not personal."

"Well, yeah, Wha-"

Tai Lung didn't let me finish. He gave my butt a painful kick, and next thing I knew, I took a long speedy flight before slamming into the snout of the monster. Falling down into the dust beneath its feet, I rolled over when the house collapsed on me. Damn that leopard, it hurts, and I had to keep massaging my butt while I escaped to a safer distance.

There was a loud booming sound came from behind, accompanied by a violent tremor. Within a moment, I was caught within thick layers of dust zooming their way across the alley.

Tai Lung was on his way to pick up our master when a loud, ear piercing scream came about. I held my ears shut, struggling hard to keep the sound outside. But it seemed to be inevitable. The scream went through my paws and onto my ear drums with spear like edges, shocking the membranes while they begged for mercy. It lasted for several seconds, long enough to lose my own sense of directions.

Through the corner of my eyes, I saw Tai Lung was still on his feet, squatting over the roof top with his hands over his ears.

Then, something clicked inside my memory. "Hey, the same scream," I muttered. "The day was over, right?" Turning to Tai Lung wasn't getting myself any answer, but looking up into the air, I had proven my words right. The moon had made its way half across the sun, and the sun was settling over the horizon. The eclipse, as we speak, was coming to an end.

"We… made it." Tai Lung mumbled, keeping his muscles unmoved. Together, we watched as the sand armies retreated out of the valley, streaming down the streets like sand rivers. The creature noticed it too. It took a long paused to look at the horizon, as if it spotted something that we can't. For some reason, that peaceful moment we had 'shared' with that monster was something astounding. Peace was returning, I can feel it in my tummy.

Turning its head towards the Jade Palace, it let out a growl, signaling the end of the raid. Slowly, it made its way towards the Mountain Pass.

Tai Lung picked up his height and cheered. "Hell yeah!"

"Wooooohooo!"

Suddenly, the monster's tail came smashing at Tai Lung, completely had him entangled between the spikes. The building burst into thousands of pieces, shooting towards me.

I tried to escape, but the wood pieces showered me. Squeezing my eyes shut was a mistake, as I missed the tail coming in my way. Soon, with a rough shock wave, I had joined the ride involuntarily. We tried to struggle our way out, but the force was unbearable, not to mention that it had us constantly smashed into an object to drag us deeper. Tai Lung was trapped below me, having his breath pressed out as my butt squeezed him flat.

"Whoops."

"God damn you are, panda!" He shouted below me. "Now get off!"

Just before Tai Lung kicked me in the face, both of us started experiencing zero gravity. Our body floated in the air, slowly lifted above the spikes.

"Hey," I started, trying my best to laugh. "What do you know? We can fly!"

"No shit," mumbled Tai Lung, head examining here and there. "We aren't flying you idiot! We are falling!"

Okay, that should have come sooner.

Apparently, the monster had made a jump into the Devil's Mouth - the bottomless chasm below the Thread of Hope. Down below, beyond the heavily spiked monster, was a huge hurricane full of electric arcs. And we were falling into the black hole at its core!

"What is that!" I asked, consuming a lot of air while I did so.

But Tai Lung ignored. "Grab on something, will ya?!"

"W-What do you mean!? There is nothing to grab on!" The cliff was too far to reach, and there wasn't any plant living on the side.

"Great," Tai Lung muttered. "We got company!" Thousands of sand soldiers started to join us on our fall. They leaped off the cliffs, hundreds over hundreds, like a horde of locust taking over the sky. They seemed to enjoy the smooth free fall. While I twirled upside down, they just let their body zoomed like an arrow. One of them actually turned to me, smiling with an irritating, meatless voice "Kekekekekeeke!"

"Oh dang."

It was fast, so fast that we weren't given any more time to think. Soon, both of us were plunged into complete darkness, and I lost all my senses beyond that moment.

* * *

**Master Crane**

Five hours had passed after sunset. But it felt like eternity. We were sitting around the kitchen table, speechless when Shifu came in. Though his body was heavily bandaged here and there, he seemed to be too worried to care about his own. Tigress went to help him, while the others and I watched as he climbed onto his sit. I stood there numbed. I don't know where to start. Soon enough, he noticed the number of our presence was less than normal.

"Where is Po and Tai Lung?"

We didn't response, yet the words were written through our facial expression. I can see it, and I can feel it by my own.

"Well," Shifu strengthened his voice. "I'm _not_ in the mood for hitting around the bush. Now, tell me where they are." he demanded.

We shared a fearful look at each other. Sure enough, I spoke up, since it was my duty to report, but I hesitated. "They are…. We….. We can't find them, master."

Shifu's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

I felt a surge through my stomach. A dry wave shot itself up into my throat, and I felt like swallowing my own heart. I was speechless, not knowing where to continue.

But I was relief that Tigress backed it up for me. "After the eclipse," she said, "We found you, lying unconsciously on a roof, master. But we can't find the rest of the two."

"Yeah," Mantis added. "We'd searched through everywhere."

We had been thinking a lot before this; thinking about the possible explanations behind their disappearance. Still, we only ended up with one simple fact. Po and Tai Lung were gone. I don't suppose if it means gone from the world, because we were not certain. There was no proof, no dead bodies, no tracks, and no signs. But what else can we have come up with?

"What?" Shifu gasped. Through his eyes, I knew there was a lot going on in his mind right now. "Are you sure?!"

For a moment, nobody dared to answer, until I chose to. Again. Yeah, here goes the suicide solo. "Yes. We had the villagers helped in our search too. We'd even gone through the nearby forest." I shook my head. "No sign of them."

"We also asked the guru to sense their chi," Monkey added.

"And?"

But Monkey shook his head. "Nothing."

Tigress was awfully blank right now. There was no slightest expression to hint us about her emotion. For this, we comrades and master certainly knows one thing, someone she met in her life was dropping out of the picture.

Shifu stared at us, with a gap over his mouth. The silence of the room continued to last for what seemed like an eternity. It was tense. As we exchanged a glimpse on each other we could feel each other's mind rumbling. I swore I was going to broke down and screamed, but I had held back.

I am a strong man, I kept telling myself.

Shifu nodded his head. "Alright, I understand. You…" He paused, then quickly ended the conversation. "That is all."

Straight and short, I knew dangling ourselves further on this topic will had us screaming on our chair.

Shifu was starting to pace back his room when I decided to stop him. It took me a lot of gut to do that, here goes the suicide guy again.

"Wait, master! What about tomorrow's ceremony?"

"What about- Of course," Shifu replied dryly. 'The visiting."

"Yeah," Mantis added. "We'd been thinking about getting it cancelled, master. But what do you say?"

Shifu's mind was messing up with his emotions. His eyes were out of focus, his jaw was hanging. I don't think he had the brain to make any decision right now, which he decided go with ours. "Cancel it."

"Cancel?"

We all jumped on our chair. The voice was calmly spoken, and it _don't_ belong to anyone of us.

"With respect, Master Shifu, what the villagers need now is a celebration!"

Shifu didn't budge, nor turned. The voice was familiar to us all, too familiar to get our temper raised.

Our master held his breath. Then breathed in deep, and let out long. "You should be in the guest room, Kuang."

"Oh, my apology for the rudeness," the magistrate answered, stepping into the kitchen.

I was biting back my anger, everyone did the same.

"But I'm a little interested to know more about your palace," Kuang continued. "So I decided to take a tour myself. Isn't that right, Huang Bi?"

We all turned our attention to the middle aged goose beside him. If Kuang was not enough, then take two for his ass-kissing assistance. Oops, pardon my rudeness. It just came into my mind.

"Yes, your excellency," Huang agreed.

Oh, he was a royal dog, mind you. Kuang gave the order, Huang Bi delivered it. He had raised so many issues throughout the year. And our master was the only one cleaning up the mess. Of course, we'd helped. But sometimes it involved hordes of rhinos invading our valley, or the ninja cats in attempt to assassinate him over a misunderstanding.

"Now I was saying," Kuang clamped his hands together. "We should throw a huge celebration over the end of this eclipse. Certainly, the village was thrashed into a ruin, and we've lost two of our best fighters. But we must understand. That people's spirit should be lifted once again with joy, to start anew. They should foresee the living as a gift to move on, and the future as a mystery to bestow upon."

.....

Damn him for thinking this eclipse was over. There will be one more day before the eclipse was over.

Shifu didn't answer. He was fighting a losing battle against his temper. And we were told to keep our voices in front of him. But deep in our heart, I knew we wanted to pawn him so badly that he must be dead in a million pieces.

Simply sees the opportunity, the magistrate continued, "So, I humbly request that this ceremony is to be kept in the list. Don't you agree, Master Shifu?"

Our master seemed to have blown his fuse. "Fine, do what you like." Without hesitation, he stormed into the corridor with rage, missing the smile on Kuang's face. Luckily, he did. If not, I feared there will be an outburst of anger.

Speaking of which, I quickly turned around the table, searching out for the signs of an outburst.

Everyone was losing themselves, including me. But I had to hold them back. It was my job to control the situation when master was not around.

I glanced over Tigress, the most short-tempered among us; spotting her fists clenching tight, I begged inwardly for the magistrate to leave.

Do not show any sign of struggle! I clenched my beak hard enough that the end was actually bending. Do not let him catch our weakness!

"And so shall it be. A celebration," Kuang exclaimed joyfully.

Oh please, could you just shut up and get lost? .

"And a challenge for the visitors."

Tigress stood up, looking dead in her eyes. It only means one thing: Bad News. The others quickly turned to her, eyes widening. I was preparing to launch myself at her when she walked towards Kuang. Damn that pig never sees it coming.

Instead, she muttered, "Break a leg." and vanished into the corridor.

I let off my tensed muscle, legs shaking that I almost collapsed onto the floor. Everyone else did the same, slumping back onto their seat.

"Oh ho-ho-ho," Kuang laughed. "Of course."

"But Po was…" Don't use the word, I warned myself. "Missing."

"Don't worry," answered the magistrate immediately. "I know a good fighter from my own academy. You will see him in actions."

I froze, mouth gagging.

Of course, _his _martial art school – Kuang's Academy. Lame eh? Here is a little introduction: the academy was built and fund raised personally by him. At first, Shifu authorized the foundation because the idea of spreading the martial art teachings was good. But who knows, as the time passes, the school became our very own rival at the tournament. Such a yearn to prove who's the best. It haunts our reputation as more and more parents preferred to have their kids registered there.

Reason, you asked?

Because the Kuang's Academy had a more advanced infrastructures, and that's it. Nowadays, parents want their children to live comfortable, even if they need to pay for it. For that, I won't blame them. But this was becoming another source of income for the magistrate as well.

Greedy.

Ever since the economy boomed, more and more people joined there. Sure, all the Jade Palace could provide for their students was a good, spaced, empty room, a decent meal from Po, a couple of well experienced advices, and basic equipments to begin with. Although there was another reason for our lost; but having your master looking grumpy all the time wasn't a really bad thing, yet most kids complaint for it.

I know I did.

"So then," Kuang said, getting back our attention. "I bid you, good night." With that, he and his assistance bowed as a respect, before pacing back into their quarters.

"What, he is backing us out!?" Viper gave her agony an outburst.

"Who the hell he thinks he is?!" Mantis shouted. "And the hell with his optimism!" He slammed the table.

Letting out a sigh, I hovered my wings over the air; an attempt to calm the situation down. "Now, keep it cool, guys."

"It's like he got a problem with us," Monkey stated.

"Of course!" said Mantis. "He's obviously not on our side!"

"I had enough of today," Viper frowned.

"You bet I am!" Mantis barked. "This sucks!"

"Okay, okay," I said, nodding. "I know it's a hard time to get through. But everyone is tired. Let's go to sleep. Okay guys?" I begged inwardly for their cooperation.

Luckily, they followed.

Having Po and Tai Lung gone was bad enough for us all. I don't know about the others, but my greatest lost was Po. Although our friendship didn't go as deep as Tigress with him, I still cried. Of course I did. We are buddies, good buddies that went on to crack up jokes everyday. I still remembered he and I went whooping down the market over a lie made by Shifu, just to trick us voluntarily to go carry five thousand pounds of weapon rack back to the mountain. It was stupid when we realized it, but it was fun to recall.

He taught me a lot of cooking techniques, and in return I taught him how to balance his stances. We usually teamed up against Monkey and Mantis when it came to practical jokes. Tai Lung, who seemed to be our very own audience, would give the commentary while we battled in our game. And….

There I go, thinking about the past we shared in our life, crying the whole night. I came to the point I wanted my brain dead, because I started to imagine _him_ dying in front of me. He was crying, body laid flat on the ground, one hand reaching out for me. He was begging, moaning for my help.

….

I'm losing it.

….

….

Keep yourself together, Crane.

I am a strong man… I am a strong man.

….

….

*sigh*

"It will be a long night before dawn."

.... The visitors will arrive tomorrow.

Whatever ceremony Kuang was throwing at, I am not looking forward to it.

**Day End At Midnight**

* * *

Time is the limit for this story. It marked the judgement to many as long as they are in the _Days of Eclipse_.

Author's note: For any mistakes or disapointment I've made. I apologizes.

Please Review.


	3. Chapter 3

First, I wanna thank you for coming this far with me. And for the reviews, which I really appreciated, it seemed that I failed to deliver some thingies through my stories. So, my apologies, please be known that this eclipse will going to be lasted for 3 days, and 3 days only.

Final Note: Whatever mentioned in this story was only fiction, not real.

* * *

Day 3

Part 1: The Broken Call

---

Shifu didn't have a good night sleep. His eyes were dry and heavy. His spine barely lifted him straight. The bowl of porridge was tasteless, and he barely found his energy to stay awake.

The air was breeze on his skin. Moisture hovered over his nose. It was a cold dawn. And his bandages were not giving him extra warms. Last he checked, he had a broken neck and a broken arm. Luckily, he didn't need anyone to carry him around, as his legs still hold him.

There was this dream that he had. It stayed in his mind, clear and simple. But he never understood it.

In his dream he was walking among the ruins, which resembled the destroyed Valley of Peace. Everything seemed to be quiet and dark. Perhaps it was the middle of the night, with the moon absent. It didn't take long for him to notice a dead bird lying on the earth. He paused to look at it. It was a sparrow, brown feathered, and well grown. The bizarre moment came when the bird suddenly sprung back to life, jumping and chirping at him. By that time, the dream had stopped, and a worn out master came awakening from his bed.

Shifu lay on his arm, scanning mindlessly at the texture of the table. He remembered making his own vow when he adopted Tai Lung - to protect the one he loved. Eventually, that didn't turn out well.

Tai Lung was locked inside the Chor Ghom Prison for 20 years, pretty much due to his blindness of pride. He swore he would never let that happen again. It was a mistake, a guilt for him to make someone's life wasted and miserable. Even though Tai Lung seemed to get over it, but the rave he gave him when he came back, was inevitable for him to leave behind.

The Furious Five came in pretty soon after Tai Lung get locked in jail, just before the big panda showed up.

_The big fat panda. _He smiled. It never gets old to repeat the phrase. Six months had passed ever since Po joined them. At first, he was worried about Oogway's vision; worrying about it could not remain unchanged. But he was wrong. Until this very day, Po had brought something back to his life.

Laughter.

He couldn't remember the last time he had a good laugh. It was ignored, streaming in his past like a ghost.

But now, he laughed as if it was part of his life. He enjoyed having Po around, naturally doing something humorous without knowing it. His goofiness definitely stood out among the rest. And it was his presence that made him felt at peace. For that too, the others were accepting this new member pretty well.

His ears flicked when he heard footsteps outside the corridor, slowly making their way towards the kitchen. He seat up straight, just before Tigress came in, eyes meeting his in one gaze.

She didn't say anything, nor greeted him as usual. It seemed that she was clearly distracted from her doing. Her eyes weren't focusing on anything particular, just darting around like a shaken ping pong ball in an empty jar. She walked over the sink, and started preparing the breakfast. Shifu quietly examined her expression.

Unreadable. As if they were not meant to be together. Each part of the facial features - her eyes, lips, and cheek - were showing completely different part of her feeling.

A sign of inward struggle, he thought, best not to surface anything.

The sounds of chopping filled the room. By the look of it, it will be vegetable soups for the morning meal.

Shifu spun the cup in front of him, carefully caressing it between his fingers. Both of them were deep in their thoughts. And it went on for another half an hour, or so, until the others came in.

"Good morning, master," greeted the students in a bow, tones flattened. Judging by their faces, they were as sleepless as him. Viper's eyes were especially red, probably cried herself out throughout the whole night. Crane was awfully dried in his face. His eye lips were melting all the way down to his cheek, a sign of very rude awakening.

They had their breakfast in complete silence. None had said a single word, at least, not with their minds absent. Only the sounds of the tinkling utensils could be heard, covering up with the munching sounds of the teeth. Everyone remembered the talk between their master and the magistrate. Though they wished to bring out the topic, but they feared that Shifu won't allow it.

Their master was scanning their expression as always, and he certainly noticed it, but he avoided the gazes. "Try to present yourself well in front of the people."

The five nodded.

"I definitely hoped so," Mantis conceded.

*

If what the letter said was true, their visitors will arrive by mid-day. Everyone had left to work on the preparation, but Shifu had his own business to cope with.

He wanted to have his dream read, to be translated into words that he knew. He never did so in his past. Never would he thought about it too. To him, being too superstitious wasn't really a good way to live through his life. But this time, after all what just happened, things kind of went different for him.

Now, finding someone who could read a dream could be a problem, but luckily, he just happened to know the one for the job. They didn't see each other much, considering the fact that they lived in a different place. He lived in the Jade Palace, surrounded by staffs and villagers, while hers was in the mountain pass, alone in a wooden house of two storeys.

Her house had a lot of voodoo decorations on the veranda. But that's what he remembered during his last visit. If she didn't change the decoration, he shouldn't have a problem spotting it.

With the preparation completely within Kuang's grasp, whatever the pig chose to stir things up, he will have nothing to do with it. Besides, this was a good opportunity for him to slip out, especially unnoticed.

The eclipse was back again. While the whole valley was covered in a dark milky light, he traveled along the mountain, reaching his destination within two hours. The house was there, standing at the side of a forest, towered by trees. The decorations on the veranda shifted with the wind as usual. It always looked like a sign of welcome to visitor – if you're crazy enough to enter, that is.

He spotted the owner, the shaman who he seek, standing in the middle of her little garden, watering the plants while humming a few rhythms. The squirrel was wearing a black robe, and a purple sash tied around her waist.

"Morning, Le Ko," he greeted.

The old squirrel turned, and spotted him through the flowers.

"Ah… Master Shifu," she greeted. Putting down the equipment, she headed towards him. "It's been a while."

Her large bushy tail was hanging behind her the whole time. For some reason, he always mistook it as a large brown tooth. Well, added with a few dark stripes at the middle.

"What brings you here?" she asked. "People tends to avoid this place, you know."

"I got a dream I want you to read," he started. "I want to know what's in it."

The squirrel lifted an eyebrow, slow and elegant. "Really? Interesting. But acquiring my little service would need a little bit of…. Charge, if you won't mind."

"I got it with me." He held up a pocket of silver coins.

Le Ko eyed over the money, looking fascinated. "That'll do. Do come in."

*

They settled down in the guest room, sitting with their legs crossed. A small brazier was put between them.

Shifu watched as the shaman do her preparation for the reading, throwing a few bones and roots into the fire, watching them burned before she dropped another handful of leafs.

"Now," she started, eyeing him through the fire. "Let's hear about your dream."

Without hesitation, Shifu repeated the dream he had, slowly emphasizing on each descriptions. The shaman was listening intently on his story, watching the fire sparkled with every word he said. When he came to the part where the bird jumped and chirped at him. The fire suddenly burst like fireworks.

Some of the pieces fell on his cloth, but he shoved them off before the burns got into the skin.

On the other side, he spotted Le Ko dropped her jaw.

That had him worried, "Well?"

The shaman hesitated, as if she had seen a ghost behind him.

"Le Ko?"

"I…." She paused, shaking her head. The pocket of payment was pushed back to him. "I'm afraid I can't help you this time," she said.

Nonsense.

"You know something, don't you?" Shifu scowled, leaning forward. "_Tell_ me!"

"Shifu," she interrupted, "Sometimes, there're things that better be leaved untold."

He eyed at her suspiciously. "Well, too late for that."

The shaman didn't say anything, except giving him a worried look, straight and genuine. He knew it was her sign of warning, but he ignored it.

"Just tell me," he demanded again.

After a short moment of battle through their eyes, Le Ko shut hers, admitting defeats.

"Okay." She sighed, calming herself with a deep breath. She seemed to be choosing her words, probably afraid of getting things out of control.

Shifu stared at her, waiting as she let herself a moment to think.

"When you first heard of me, Shifu. What do you have of me?"

"Huh?" That's quite a bit off course don't you think?... Yet the words never slipped out of his tongue.

Of course, when they first met, he thought Le Ko was an old squirrel who lost her sanity. But news got to him first. Up in the mountain pass, there was a 'haunted' house, where passers would hear wails and moans at every night. None had the guts to venture close, until Shifu was begged to find a dream reader, which was rumored to be just the house.

"Shifu?" she called.

But the old master was now hesitated to tell. Is that what she expected him to say?

Somehow, she noticed it, and eventually answered it herself.

"A crazy old squirrel," she said, "Goes by the name of 'The Mournful Ghost', lived in the mountain pass."

The memories started to come back. But, where was she getting at?

"I kept telling people that I wanted to bring my daughter back to life." Her expression became serious, a sign for him to listen.

"She's calling me, Shifu." She leaned forward, just so he could hear. "_Begging_ me that she _wished_ to live once again."

"Le Ko, you don't have to mention-"

"I had this dream, Shifu," she interrupted, her eyebrows narrowed. "What did I dreamt of?"

What was it? She told him before. Something about her walking in her garden, she spotted something…

"A dead orchid," he answered, sensing a fear building up from his chest.

Le Ko nodded. "And what happen next?"

"It...." He dazed into the fire, voice becoming a whisper. "Came back to life."

There was nothing else to talk about. He had the explanation now, deep within his grasp.

The dead things symbolized the people he loved, it varied because everyone has a different perception of their likings, in other words, their love one; while watching it springing back to life, was _exactly _what they wished him to see – their desire.

At that very moment, the world seemed to stood still in front him. There was nothing else he could hear, except the heart beating of his own. His mind started to rebel, while his facial expression remained in void.

The voices became louder every second, multiplying while he continued to stare at the fire.

For a second, he thought he was going crazy.

*

The Furious Five was gathering around the Palace Arena, watching the staffs cleaning up the stages when they spotted a masked wolf talking to the magistrate. He was probably the height of Tigress, wearing a blue robe and a dark trouser. From the way they talked, it seemed that they had known each other for quite a long time, though things seemed to be _not_ coming along well.

"Is that the competitor?" asked Mantis.

"Don't know," Monkey answered. "What's with the secretive mask? It looked scary."

"No slight of fashion too," Viper added. "But I heard that's what he looked like in the public. No one actually seen his face."

"Hmmmm, even in practice?" Mantis asked again.

"That's what I said, in _public_."

"Oh okay. What about the name?"

Viper thought for while, and answered "'Hollow Masked Man', I think."

"Well," Mantis smirked. "That fits _perfectly_. And he seemed to be pretty tough, look at all those muscles."

"Yeah." Viper smiled. "Like a barbarian from the jungle."

"Okay then," Mantis chuckled. "Hey, Tigress, what do you think?"

The feline looked at him, but he knew her mind wasn't there, as she quietly turned her head around, continuing to observe the scene without giving him a reply. Now, calling her back was a suicide, so sharing a look with the others, they agreed to change the subject.

"Where is Master Shifu?"

"If I've remembered correctly." Monkey put a hand on his cheek. "I saw him walking back to his quarter just now. He looked very sad."

"No need to bring back the topic, mon," Mantis sighed. "You know the drill."

"Yeah."

Looking at Crane could tell his state of mind too. As quiet as he was the whole time, the avian was actually having a losing war to his sorrow. Everything seemed to gone blur on him. The scene, the sounds and the voices; all this time, he had none of them in his conscious.

"Hey," Viper called. "Let's give them a hand, maybe it will help shake things up a bit. What do you say, guys?"

"That sounds….." Mantis rolled his eyes. "Swell!"

*

He thought getting the dream re-puzzled for him would leave him at peace, but no, it did worst. Instead of joining the others in the preparation progress, Shifu shut himself inside his room, pouring through the scrolls once again.

--

"You mean they are dead?!"

"Shifu," Le Ko hastily snapped, but then hesitated to speak again.

"What is it?" he raved.

The squirrel let out a sigh, and spoke, "I heard about the lost of your two greatest students. And, despite how clueless of them not being found, through that dream, all I can say is…. They are gone, Shifu. Forever."

There was a long pause later, before Shifu started again.

"Well, is there anyway to bring them back?"

"That is the reason I wished not to tell you, Shifu," Le Ko answered, perfectly emphasizing the following word, "I-Don't-Know."

Of course, if she knew, they would probably see her daughter running around again, alive.

--

The old scrolls weren't giving any help. His mind was getting upset for unreasonable rage. The scroll flipping in his hands slowly being tore apart. And out of his conscious, he was tearing through the scrolls, reaping them into pieces. The brown parchments slipped onto the ground like wasted papers, scattering everywhere on the wooden floor.

_Impossible_.

Even if he wanted to bring them back, there was no way for him to do so. He was lacking the knowledge.

But even if he did find the answer, it will go against his will to disrupt the nature of life cycle. Bringing the dead back to life was a guilt, a horrible act that shaken the very foundation of life which he was taught. At least, Oogway will not tolerate him if he did. But what can he choose? Breaking the nature's law over his students? The answer was very obvious. If anyone happened to have this knowledge, the ground will be flooded with people, and part of them will be known as the undead.

--

"Shifu, I've seen a lot of these before. It happened when your love ones died," Le Ko said.

"What do you mean?"

"You and I were not the only one who had this dream. Many've came here before you, asking me about the same dream."

"_What_ are you trying to say?" Shifu gritted his teeth.

The squirrel eyed at him. "Just ignore it. Things just happened."

--

Right now, he had gone through everything for more than ten times. It's useless to think about it. He knew it was a waste of time. There is no way. But, somehow he kept coming back for more, reading through them again and again. Without having another glance, he knew the memoir stopped at the end of the raid, nothing more beyond that. While the children story finished with a 'happily ever after'.

What the hell?!

That didn't HELP at all!

He furiously shoved the scrolls onto the ground, slamming his uninjured fist onto his desk, hammering it several times before banging his forehead on the surface. His broken neck ached from the pain, but he wouldn't care anymore. He wished he could be somewhere else, somewhere far from this situation.

Le Ko was right. Facts are truth, but knowing too much wasn't a good way to live on. He cursed for his stubbornness, he cursed for his desire to know. But it was too late, he might as well close an eye and move on, or he will be mulling his sorrow forever.

That old squirrel had also made her point too. She was a dream reader, and of course she did read her own dream. Problem was, she couldn't accept it. He was told to recall, because Le Ko scared he would ended up with the same sentiment she had. But it failed. He was downright frustrated, sad, and mentally disturbed by unexplainable rage.

"I am sorry." Shifu muttered to himself, trembling. The tears began to sip through his eyes. "I can't…."

Just then, someone knocked the door, three times, and a feminine voice followed. "Master? Are you in there?"

He didn't answer. The rage was building up through the noises. His head ached from the disturbance, while his mind struggled inwardly to regain control.

Go away.

But it came again, three knocks on the door, followed by a call. "Master Shifu."

Forcefully giving his face a rub, as if trying to reap off his face, he wiped off the tears, and stormed towards the door, opening it with a violent slam, "WHAT IS IT?!".

Tigress backed a few steps, somehow shocked by his outrage.

At the sign of her, his expression quickly dropped into a blank. "Tigress," he stammered. "I'm… terribly sorry. I was… not really myself right now."

There was a brief moment of pause, before Shifu reminded her, "You were… urrrmmm…"

The feline lifted her head. "O-Oh, we've spotted the visitors, master," she said. "They will be here soon."

Shifu gazed out through his window. "I see."

It's almost noon; all that worrying must had shrouded him from his sense of time.

Turning back to Tigress, he nodded. "I'll be there soon. You go first."

After dismissing her with a flex of his hand, Shifu plodded back to his desk, picking up the torn pages on his way.

Their visitor, The Southern Iron Dragon Clan; little was known about their cultures, as they lived far across the lands. However, their reputation was as great as the Furious Five: they had won the Battle of the Flaming Ivy, retaliated the invasion of The Stone Boars, and eventually extinguished an entire colony of bandits, goes by the name Red Phoenix. Even rumor had it, that their leader was thousand years old.

Well, that will be something to look upon. Maybe seeking wisdom to clench his sorrow was a good opportunity too. Problem was, they barely knew each other. And he could hardly tell if they were friendly or not.

After all what he had gone through, he definitely hoped things would lighten up a bit, _definitely_. But first, he had to wonder what Kuang had in store for him.

Damn that pig never failed to 'amuse' him. There was always some tricks below the surface, and he had to keep watch for it.

---

Chapter Ended at Mid Day


	4. Chapter 4

Well guys, this is the last chapter. And I can only say... It just got longer. Still, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Day 3

Part 2: The End Day

---

Citizen of the valley had lined themselves at both sides of the path, forming a huge runway in the middle for their visitors. They were at the entrance to the village, waiting to give their new guests the most welcoming receive they could get. Although the eclipse continued to shroud the daylight, their fears were no longer there to grip them. But despite of the downed atmosphere, Kuang was actually smiling.

Shifu didn't want to speak to him. After a restrained greeting, both of them had not through any conversation yet.

An half hour of standing proved boring and tiring. But at last, they spotted their visitors, reaching out from the tree lines in the line of four, carrying their golden flags as they marched. With rough estimation, there were only thirty of them. Visibly, they scanned the scourged village from side to side, seemed to be astonished by the condition of the valley was in.

Seeing the look on their faces, Shifu was wondering if he should had invited them in the first place. Of course, no one decides what the future would bring, and none could have predicted an outcome beyond an unexpected phenomenon.

Stupid eclipse, Shifu sighed. Stupid story.

The magistrate's smile widened more as the army came to a halt in front of them. The spearmen took their stands pridefully, poles facing up. The armors they wore were completely covered in golden steels, with a large painting of a red dragon at their chest. Their shoulder pats was pointy, like horns growing out from their sides. Their flags were shifting by the winds, a very epic felt of a visiting.

"Welcome to my humble Valley of Peace!" the magistrate exclaimed, spreading his arms in the air.

At first, Shifu was a bit agitated by the use of 'my', but he shrugged it off soon, because he never claimed it for his own.

An old dragon - completely covered in golden robe - stepped forth. He spoke with a slow, stabled tone. "Ah, Magistrate Kuang, if I may? It's an honor to meet you in person. Please, let me introduce myself." He lightly patted his own chest. "My name is Long, currently the second generation of master to the clan."

Scanning from the top to the bottom, Shifu quickly came around with a few details: he had a really long beard sprouting out from the tip of his snout, practically reaching the height of his sash. His eye lashes were long and white too. Other than that, his skins were all scaly and green.

How old is he? His dragon horns – which resembled the shape of branches - were longer than the rest of the clans. Maybe that could tell. Although his body was hunched due to age, yet he was undeniably taller than the magistrate, probably reaching the same height with Tigress.

"Ah, speaking of which," Long said. "I certainly looked forward to see the skills display by your greatest warrior."

"Yes, of course," Kuang answered. "You will not be disappointed. You will be faced with the toughest warrior _my_ academy can offer. And certainly no woman as your opponent, I assure you."

The Heck!!

Much like Tigress, her master and comrades found the words incredibly irritating. First, he completely ignored the presence of The Furious Five. Second, Magistrate Kuang was actually one of the millions who discriminated the females.

How did he miss this little fact? Shifu wondered. Few months ago, Mr. Kuang had all the potentials to be a good magistrate, yet he had shown none of it once he grabbed the post. What did he miss? What the _hell_ did he missed?

But Master Long only smiled, shaking his head. "Please, young one," he said. "Whom ever shall face my student, so long that the warrior has the strength and the heart. We will gladly, and honorly accept the duel."

"Oh," the magistrate muttered. "Okay."

Right, Shifu huffed quietly. He knew the word 'Okay'. He heard them every time he corrected him, and he certainly knew his skull was too thick for any changes.

Just then, Long dropped an eye over Shifu, and quickly raised an eyebrow when they locked gazes.

"Shifu!" he called merrily, almost sounded if they were old buddies.

"Huh..?!" the red panda stammered.

"Oh my, look at you!" The dragon walked past the magistrate, pacing towards him with open arms. "You certainly have grown a lot!" He chuckled. "My bad, OF course you did."

Shifu was dumbstruck when Long gave him a hug, warping him gently around his sleeved arms. He wanted to return the hug, but he was confused. Long let go after a while, crouching in front of him. "I see you have no much memory of me."

Embarrassed, Shifu can only cast his head down, murmuring in a low tone, "Sorry."

"No worries, no worries," Long said gleefully, patting his shoulder. "We had only met each other once anyway, just when you're five." He chuckled. When he did, his eyes formed into a thin line. "It's good to see you again, my old friend."

The phrase instantly struck the master and his students like a bolt.

They've met before? Really? Where?

"Urrh… Sorry to interrupt," the magistrate stepped between them. "Shall we begin the event?"

"Sure," Long said, straightening himself. "Of course."

*

Hundreds of people had gathered at the Jade Palace. But unlike the usual merriness, this one was a bit sorrow and demanding.

Mr. Ping was awfully down that day. His mind was so worked up that he decided to close his store. Although it was against his rule to not sell noodle for a day, but this day was the most exceptional day of his life. He didn't see it coming. All that ever so cheerful goose was no longer on the crowd's list.

Tigress wanted to talk to him, about her feelings for Po, but Viper advised her not to.

"Let's just… Leave him for now, okay?" Viper whispered. "Maybe tomorrow. I'll gladly accompany you, if you want?"

Tigress expressed a smile wryly. "Thanks. I will be fine by myself."

Viper returned the gesture. "Okay." She slithered off when Shifu called, ordering something about keeping watch over the children.

Tigress turned to Mr. Ping. He had been sitting there, unmoved and unspoken for hours, practically killing the time off by examining his wings.

She sighed. Clearly, that goose was oblivious to anything around him. Earlier on, Shifu did offer him a seat with them, but he refused by shaking his head, and walked off without looking at them. She felt sorry for him, and most of all, sorry for herself, because she missed him as much as he did.

Fire crackers were lighted at the middle of the arena, followed by a dance of the puppet dragons by a group of acrobats. Musicians lined themselves into two, playing the classic Chinese rhythms to pace up the atmosphere. The kids can be spotted running around with their toy windmills, chit chattering about who's spinning the fastest. For once, everybody seemed to have forgotten the eclipse.

Across the platform, the old master and his students were seating in a line, with the visitors on the other end. There was this empty seat between the two masters – the magistrate's seat, and Shifu felt uneasy for the separation between them. For some reason, he wanted to speak to Long so badly. Something he felt when he was around Oogway, because he was troubled, and Oogway usually had the answer or advice. What he can do was only peaking through his shoulder, occasionally spotting the old dragon talking to his students. Sometimes, Long seemed to bring back the sense of Oogway; an older master, a wiser sage.

Damn.

Normally, masters were put together to allow some conversation between them, but it seemed that Kuang had another plan for himself.

He stared at the magistrate, just in time to catch him starting the opening speech.

"Citizen of the Valley of Peace," Kuang exclaimed at the top of his lung. "It seems that it was just yesterday our little village was raid by an un-expecting foe. Yet, far from what we could mourn upon the dead, we should look ever forward to what we would find in the future."

Crane's eyes widened. "Wow."

"He doesn't care about a thing," Tigress snapped.

"Shh!_ Quiet!_" Shifu hissed below his palm. But obviously, the dragon master on the other side overheard their little conversation. Long smiled at them, in which Shifu sheepishly returned with a forceful one.

"So, let us forget the past, and start anew. By the end of today, may the heaven bestow upon us with their blessing, and may our little town be once again rebirth with joy!"

Most of the crowd roared in return, while some of them didn't.

Monkey crossed his arms. "Sometimes, I wonder if he can do what he has said."

"Seventy percent goes to no," Viper added.

"No sweat." Mantis frowned. "I vote for ninety."

"Let the ceremony... _Begin_!" Magistrate Kuang shouted, and his assistance hit the gong with a drum.

The crowd wooed as a group of acrobats danced their way into the arena, practically showing off some of the dancing skills with red ribbons. Magistrate Kuang walked towards the masters, smiling.

He had to admit, it was disturbing.

Kuang slowly sunk himself onto his seat, slightly brushing his sleeves. Turning to Long, the magistrate smiled. "I hope you don't mind a little enjoyment before the tournament."

"Of course not," Long said. "We are certainly grateful for your hospitality."

What the heck. Tigress turned away. To say the least, she was not in the mood for this.

"Oh good, good," was all the magistrate answered.

The performance seemed to last for the next two hours under the black sun. Lanterns were lit across the palace; a rare occasion to observe during the afternoons. Foods were served while everyone enjoyed the show. However, they were tasteless with the pig dining beside him. He couldn't stop twitching his eyes every now and then, that is, everytime when the magistrate gulped down a chunk of meat. He swore he wanted his ears plugged for his eating habits, and he wondered if Master Long would want the same.

The fighters had their meal long before them, and they were off to get themselves prepared behind the stage. For the first time ever, Shifu and his students had a glimpse on their challenger: a female dragon, who wore a white plum blossom dress with a long black trouser. She was beautiful, and heaven knows how many males had hit on her. It was proven when Mantis and Monkey let out a "Wow" when she passed. Obviously dumbstruck, Tigress and Viper raised an eyebrow too, maybe because of the challenge they felt?

The dance finished with a stack up pose by the performers, and the crowd applauded like thunder, roaring and cheering merrily at them. The dancers waved as they maintained their postures, sending millions of smiles across the audience.

Once the arena was cleared, Magistrate Kuang passed his empty plate to the servant, stood up, and walked himself over the edge of the platform.

"And now, my people, the match will begin shortly."

Kuang turned to Master Long, smiling. "You can now go to attend your student before the fight, if you wish."

The dragon master nodded. "Of course." He stood up from his chair, and turned to the red panda.

"Shifu," he called.

"Uh-yes?" was an immediate reply.

"Can you take me to the backstage? I might have trouble finding my way around."

The question was sudden; quite sudden for him. He had no idea how to respond, but turning down his request would certainly be his last decision.

"Of course," he answered, standing up quick. Turning towards his students, he said, "Don't misbehave."

They nodded.

Shifu glanced across his students before taking off. Undeniably, everyone was breaking apart. Their spirits were gone.

He sighed. It might take a few days, or probably weeks to get over this.

As requested, he guided the master into the backstage. When they entered, the palace staffs were busy running here and there with left over plates.

But ignoring the crowds, they went into a room at the end of the hall, where they found Long's student busy wrapping her palms with bandages.

At the sight of the masters, she bowed with respect. "Master."

Shifu nodded in return, not knowing where to start.

But Long spoke for him. "May I introduce you to my best student?" he smiled gently. "Master Yun."

"Nice to meet you, Master Yun."

"Yes. Same here, Master Shifu," she returned the bow. "It is an honor to meet you."

She seemed to be nice, but Shifu couldn't help avoiding her look. There was something different about this girl. Well, maybe because she possessed razor teeth between her mouth; and a pair of red dragon eyes that burns in the dark. But despite her look, she was friendly; and maybe that make him uneasy over the combination.

Beautiful, friendly, but possessed the elements of a fearful predator. Yeah, not a single doubt, she is a monster.

"So you urm...." Shifu turned to Long. "Been through any countries before this?"

"Of course." Long grinned. "Accumulating the counts, I say that your valley was the thirty secondth."

Shifu said nothing but nodded. As calm as he was from the outside, he was actually rumbling in the inside.

Just then, a rabbit came by. "Sorry for the intrusion. I'm here to escort the warrior to the arena. If you may, please follow."

Well, that was fast, Shifu thought. They could have been giving more time.

Master Long nodded at his student, and took off after the rabbit. Shifu decided to keep a little distance between the two, but Long insisted that he follow. "Come along, my friend." He patted his shoulder, smiling. 'Don't shy your way out."

The words lifted him from his sorrow for once, but he could only respond with a stupidly un-phased "Oh." There was a silent between them, walking down the hallway they did. Maybe it was a gap of unfamiliarity, but somehow Long was a people person.

"What's wrong, Shifu?" He asked. "You seemed troubled from the start. Is there anything I could help?"

"No, thanks I…" But _there_ is, this is your chance! He thought. Stop hitting around!

"Do you know the story about the eclipse?"

The dragon looked confused. Of course, Shifu thought. How would he know? He was far from the south. It was a story passed down through generation in their valley. No outsider would ever know, unless they were inherited from here.

Oddly, Long gestured a smile. "Of course," he said. "The eclipse that lasted for three days. It is what happening now, isn't it?"

Shifu's eyes widened, mouth gagging. On second thought, the eclipse was actually a worldwide phenomenon. "Yeah," he stammered. "Y-you know anything about the ehhhh…" he hesitated. "The Gate to Hell?"

Long stared at him, surprised. "I thought they called it the Hellgate. But funny how they actually named it that way."

"W-Wha-What do you mean? Wait, how do you-"

"Shifu," Long paused, clearing his throat. "The Hellgate, I mean, portal does not really bring passers directly into hell."

"What??"

Long's face turned serious. "It only brings them to the Spirit World, a realm that only co-existed in dreams and nightmares, a gap between life and death, a world where restless souls would dangle in between."

Seeing Shifu became so nervous, Long decided to change the subject.

"Of course." he smiled. "I wonder if Juan Gong actually finished _his _memoir." Long dragged a finger across his chin, not catching Shifu's expression. "Last time I heard, he said something about getting the dead back from hell. Of course, he was a good man who pursued his wildest curiosity."

Shifu dropped his jaw once more.

Ignoring the presence of the others, Long continued. "But many thought he was mad. I wonder if he actually succeeded in doing so. When asked, he only explained that he was going to mix a pile of _mournful_ tears with the moon's water, to recreate another Hellgate while the eclipse lasted. Of course, that was his idea. I can't tell you much about the process. My other friend said it was better leaved untouched. You could have imagined how he was able to get those tears collected in time. I was really-"

Long paused when the red panda came to a halt, staring at him with eyes that resembled the size of a cup, _close_.

"You okay, Shifu?"

Shifu didn't answer immediately, but his lips began to close up, stretching into a smile, then a grin. Quick before he could reflex, Shifu had grabbed him by his hands, and shook it hard.

"THANK YOU!" he cried, before scowling off the hall, running as if he was caught on fire.

Long was rather confused. Turning to his student he asked, "Was it something I said?"

Yun only gave him a shrug.

*

Up on the stage, Viper thought she saw their master heading towards the Sacred Hall of Warriors.

"Is that Master Shifu?" she asked.

"Really?" Crane looked over the sky. "Where?"

*

Shifu kicked open the door, and dashed towards the end of the hall. When he reached the moon pool, he quickly held his face above the water, scanning the surface. Weirdly, the pool emitted no reflection. It was dark and blurry. He crashed his upper half into the pool, and cracked open his eyes under the water, only to see the bottomless abyss. After a few seconds, he pulled himself out, breathing hard to catch his breath.

Yes, he was planning to create another Hellgate, to break the laws of nature, to save his students from death.

Anyhow, the moon's water must be referring to the Moon Pool, and specifically, its water. So, that means mixing it up with mournful tears would create another Hellgate, as long as the eclipse lasted.

But he was _missing_ the tears. How could he ever get so many in such a short time. And the requirement doubled when he remembered the panda, especially his big belly.

No doubt, he will need at least a full bottle of them. But how was he going to get it? Gather the villagers and made them cry over an onion? Well, for some crazy reason, it might just work, but he needed 'mournful' tears.

Wait a sec, Shifu turned around. Everyone was sad over the lost, right? He might just make it work. Picking himself up quickly, the old master made a dash towards the entrance.

No wait. Do you want to let the visitors see a whole group of people crying in front of them? No, darn it, that was crazy, stupid, and silly, not to even mention embarrassing.

His senses came back alive when he accidently knocked over the Legendary Urn of Whispering Warriors. Shifu scrambled to catch it, but the jar fell to the ground, and crashed into million pieces. The sounds echoed throughout the hall, and his ears continued to ring with it.

"Arghh!!" A scream came behind him. And it turned out to be Zheng, one of the staff assistants.

"I'm terribly sorry," Shifu apologized. Right then, he remembered an old fact, and his eyes quickly blinked with joy.

"That's it!" he shouted, startling the goose. "That very jar contained the mournful tears of the people!" Without further adieu, Shifu exit the hall in a rush. Zheng stood there, dumbstruck for a full three seconds, before shrugging it off to begin the 'fixing'.

*

"People! Now came the time which we all been waiting for! The friendly match between our chosen fighter, against the challenger, can now begin!"

The crowd roared with excitement, while the Furious Five quietly sat drown in their seats.

"Alright," Mantis started. "Let's see some actions!"

"Probably some embarrassment." Tigress snorted, supporting her chin with her paw. "Let's hope they don't point any lost to us."

Before long, Shifu came towards them, looking enthusiastically enough to have them wondering.

"Viper, Monkey, Mantis," called him hastily.

The three instantly straightened up in respond. "Yes, master?"

"Go find the weapon smith. And bring him to me at the Sacred Hall of Warriors," Shifu commanded. "And Crane, come with me." Upon finishing, the old master leaped off the platform, but Tigress stopped him before he took off running.

"Wait, master, what about me?!" she asked.

Shifu stared at her, switching to the magistrate, then back to her again.

"Make sure that pig doesn't do anything stupid."

Stupid? She smirked. You got it.

Everyone ran off separately, leaving the feline standing alone on the platform. She gazed over the arena, and saw the two fighters walking into the middle, with a judge standing between them.

"Ready?" the squirrel asked, holding a red flag in his hand. "You know the rules: win by striking your opponent as much as you can, while the time elapsed. One good assault will give you one point, while a successful block will give you the same. Complete evasion will earn you 2 points. Fighter that got knocked out of the ring will straight away lose the battle. The battle ends when the sand completely dropped to other side (sand clock), by then, no hitting below the belt, no weapons, no biting, no clawing, and no taunting. Other than that, anything goes. You're allowed to quit of cause, but you will lose the fight without further argument. Are we clear?"

The two contestants nodded their head.

"Good, you may start after the second gong." He raised the flag and showed it to the four judges. Slowly, he exit the ring and remained unmoved.

Facing the dragon was a masked wolf, who couldn't resist a temptation. "My," he chuckled. "What would you say, if you and me…" He tipped his moustache. "Go out and have a tea later?"

However, Yun's expression remained unchanged. "Sorry," she whispered. "No thanks."

The first gong sounded, and both of them simultaneously poised their fighting stance.

"Really?" the wolf said. "I am very disappointed."

This time, the dragon didn't answer.

The moment the second gong sounded, her opponent leaped at her with an incredible speed, almost striking her at the stomach. She blocked it at her palm, swiftly turned herself around his back, and sent an elbow at his waist.

"Urgh!" Her opponent yelped when the hit registered, staggering backwards with his hand over his waist.

Tigress widened her eyes in surprise; then focused them once again to gain better view. To say the least, the actions happened so fast that she almost missed it.

The wolf made his second charge. When close enough, he delivered an uppercut, but the dragon dodged with a side step. He rushed a blow on her chest, but she blocked it at her arm. A retaliating fist came at him fast, and he ducked over, switching his legs on the ground before giving her a reversed kick at her head. The kick didn't succeed, and the dragon grabbed his ankle after a block, then another grapple at his knee.

Soon before he could react, she yanked him hard into the air, and sent a kick straight at his stomach.

Tigress's ears stood up as she watched the wolf flung across the arena, landing back on the floor with a slam. The crowd gasped, but she was rather satisfied to watch the opponent suffer.

Bad girl, she smirked. Better don't let anyone see you smiling.

The wolf slowly got onto his feet. He was panting, and felt like vomiting his lunch. It took him a few more seconds to fully regain his focus.

The judges on the bench were thrilled by the fight, while the referee slowly circled the ring, sweating so much that he feared he would miss a hit. At least, the marks began to fly when the two made the second contact.

The wolf remained still after the last attack. His stance was no longer stable, with a hand over his stomach and slightly bended at his waist; he was suffering from the pain she gave him. The dragon quietly waited for another two seconds, before charging at him with a slide across the floor. She clawed the ground to stop her momentum, turned and gave a reversed kick at his face. The wolf blocked, but he missed another one that swept at his feet.

Soon, he was spinning in the air like a windmill, before Yun sent another kick at his back, throwing him far outside the ring. The wolf tumbled heavily back to the ground over a distance, and lay unconsciously with his face down.

Silent swept the scene as the referee rushed over the wolf.

The battle was over.

*

Shifu scooped up a bucket of water from the moon pool, and poured it down into the large basin.

The avian was dying to know what Shifu had in mind. But when he tried to ask, he was interrupted.

"Master Shifu!" Viper called over the entrance. "We have found him!"

"And guess who? It's our _favorite_ blacksmith," added Mantis playfully.

"Hey, watch it." the ocelot snapped, visibly holding a pack of popcorn in his arms. "I am missing a good show back there, you know that?! This better not be some equipment problems again, is it not?"

"Zhan, happy to fill you in," Shifu ran towards them. "But we don't have much time. Zheng, bring in the urn!"

The goose responded almost immediately. He came with the Legendary Urn of Whispering Warriors, perfectly fixed. "Here it is, Shifu."

By the sight of it, Shifu widened his eyes. "How did you…"

"I did it before." Zheng answered sheepishly. "So I guess things kinda went faster this time."

"Good," Shifu took the urn and tear it to Zhan. "I want you to melt it."

"What?!"

"You want me to what?!" Zhan raised an eyebrow.

The goose fainted.

Okay, that didn't come out right. "No, I mean…" Shifu ticked his head. "It contains tears inside. Can you extract them for me? Don't hesitate to destroy it if needed."

"Well, the legendary urn huh?" Zhan held his popcorn aside, receiving the vase with a hug. "I suppose I could extract the water molecules through vaporization, before condensing them down into a jar. But I would have problem breaking through the polishing materials at first. Anyhow, I guess I can…"

Although Shifu was having a hard time catching up the explanation, but... "Good, that will do. Crane, take him back to his workshop."

"Wait!" Zhan tried to protest, but Crane had already swept him off the ground; some of the popcorn fell out. "But I told Wu I would be back in a jiffy!!"

There was not a proper goodbye, as they watched the avian carried the ocelot over the distance, screaming something about scaring of height.

*

Tigress watched as the referees stood by the wolf. For once, she thought the mask was thrown off, and the face revealed a bit. But she couldn't remember who he was. Anyway, the match was over pretty quick. And the wolf did not stand a chance against his opponent; even _if_ the fight was prolonged. There seemed to be a huge gap between their skills. To tell the truth, after witnessing their battle, she started to wonder if she was enough to face the dragon alone.

Utterly, the referees nodded among themselves, and headed back to the judges.

The audience watched as the care taker took away the wolf. He was badly injured, to say the least. Although there was no visible blood omitted, but she knew the injuries were internal. Undeniably, they should find bruises here and there under the skin.

After a while, a rabbit referee walked into the ring, and stopped beside Yun.

"The match had decided," he spoke. "Yun, our challenger from the south... Is the winner!"

"Well, that can't be more obvious," Tigress muttered, sinking back into her chair with her arm folded.

Yun's colleagues seemed to applaude for herl, screaming and clapping on the other side of the platform. However, the locals didn't respond so well. Some of them _did_ give a few claps, but most of them didn't. Their silent treatment explicitly showed their disconcertment; not at the match, but the wolf.

How could the teacher – for whom they've paid so much to have their children learns kung fu - easily lost to an outsider? Throughout the whole fight, he didn't even landed a single blow at his opponent, while he received two toss in return, one punch and three successful kicks from her.

Not to exaggerate things, but it was _really_ disappointing.

Kuang was awfully nervous at the sight of the situation. His knees began to tremble when some of the locals turned to him. Next thing he did? Was making an excuse of going to the bathroom, and never show himself again.

Great, what's his problem? Tigress thought.

Now, no one was there to end the ceremony. Master Shifu wasn't there, neither did Master Crane, the one who usually took over once the master wasn't around. Tigress peeked at Master Long, hoping that he would do something to help. But what can a guest do in a place like this, in which the authority did not belong to his? That will be insulting enough to raise an issue.

"Oh boy." She heard the magistrate's assistant trembled. "That was bad."

Of course! As much as she hated that goose, but the situation really needed for a change.

"Hey, Huang Bi," she called.

"Y-yes?"

"Do something, will you?" she said.

"L-like ending the ceremony?" His nerve seemed broken.

"Yeah, something liked that."

"Bu-but the mayor said he was going to f-free Mr. Claw if he win the match."

Okay, what he said definitely didn't make any sense, and who is... "Mr. Claw?" she stammered. The name sounded familiar, but it didn't ring a bell. Yet. Is that the wolf's name?

Huang Bi gasped and held his mouth shut. He turned to run, but Tigress managed to grab him by the collar, pulling him back to her.

"What do you mean by the word 'free'?" She demanded. "Is he a prisoner or _what_?"

"I'm not telling!" Huang Bi answered. "Boss'll not happy."

"Well then." She unsheathed her index claw and pin it on his neck, "We can do this at the backstage if you want. Nobody will see a thing." Summoning all her concentration, Tigress was able to make a wicked grin, as if she was going to have the goose as dinner.

"Whoaaa! Huang Bi tell! Huang Bi tell!"

"Good ducky." She smirked, dropping the goose back to the ground. "Now spit."

It was funny how he betrayed his master so fast, eluding all the details like that.

"Boss says Claw has a potential. So he decided to free Claw. He and Claw made a deal about the tournament, claiming that if Claw can prove himself worthy in front of the people, he might be able to fend for his freedom. After that, they could…"

The goose gulped, shutting his mouth again. Tigress rolled her eyes, visibly unsheathed her claws, showing all of them in front of his face.

Huang Bi got the message, and continued, "H-he… He was thinking about using Claw as a tool to overthrown t-the Jade Palace."

Tigress's face instantly turned grim. "What?"

The goose hastily nodded his head as a sign of honesty.

Damn that Kuang, she cursed. When was he going to quit messing around? Now, the idea of overshadowing the Jade Palace was a complete overdo. She swore to her own, that ugly pig will going get it, in the most 'baddest' way she could ever think of.

But who is Mr. Claw? The name sounded familiar.

But if ignoring that. How did he escaped in the first place? She thought. Then again, it can't be more obvious. This must be a work of '_The Pig'_. Fine, maybe he did get out, but she had to make sure Claw was getting all the security. After all, he's bad.

Tigress began to walk off when a kid called her name. "Master Tigress?"

She turned around, looking down to see a bunny at the height of her waist. "Yes?"

The little girl looked worried. "Aren't you better than him?"

She looked up and scanned around. "Who?"

"The wolf."

Her eyes widened, seemingly blushed a bit. "Really?" She giggled. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you're the most furious among the Furious Five, Tigress. Even the Dragon Warrior told me that he would be scared of you, when you got angry."

"He did?" She can't hold back a smile.

She must admit. The little girl's reason was a bit off coarse. But, that's how she sees in her. "Well, maybe I am the most furious after all," Tigress said with a grin. But this was not the time for chit chat. She simply had to race back and check on the wolf, just in case.

She waited for a another respond, giving a friendly look at the girl. When the rabbit said nothing more, Tigress nodded her head, gave her a smile and turned away.

"Hey, wait! Master Tigress! Aren't you going to fight her?!" She stopped her track again, turning to face the crowd this time. An odd feeling overcame her when she received the stares, coming from them like a clusters of rays. It was embarrassing. She was not the people person, and _is_ scared of getting the attention.

The voice seemed to come from somewhere, probably from one of the hundreds people seating in front her, but she can't tracked the person, neither could she had guessed. Then, another person spoke up; a woman, a sheep.

"Yeah, show her, Master Tigress, I know you are better than the wolf."

Then, another one. "Come on! That was not what I see from our land! Show her that!"

And another. "He wasn't even as close as you, Master Tigress! You can do better than that."

The voices started swarming, and she hardly kept a straight mind for herself.

Great, she thought inwardly. I guess the Jade Palace still got supporters.

Alright, fine. She know what they want. Just go into the ring, and have a showdown with that dragon, whatever it takes to defeat her. But what about the wolf? If she explained about her being busy by now, they won't understand.

Someone else needed to go there, someone who is capable of fighting. But who? Just then, she spotted her, sitting among the rest, wearing green vest as always. A cat, a mountain cat in exact. Mei Ling... Nonetheless the best in her academy. She rushed up to her, continuously excused herself throughout the way. When she was close, the cat was looking at her.

"Urrh… Hi," Mei Ling greeted cheerfully. "That was.... A good match."

Since everyone was watching and listening, Tigress had to whisper close. "Mei Ling, I need you to go and check on the wolf."

"Huh?" Her eyebrows lifted a bit. "What wolf?"

"The guy that had just got his butt kicked."

"Oh," the cat giggled. She quickly turned serious after a look from Tigress. "Why, what's wrong?"

Tigress rolled her eyes. "Just go and check on him, okay?" She leaned closer to her ear, whispering, "He is a guy escaped from prison."

"What? But-"

"Don't know, don't ask. And the _magistrate _had something to do with this." Tigress warned. "Keep that in mind when you see him."

Mei Ling frowned at her, looking worried for a moment. But soon she gestured a smile, followed by a confirmative nod. "Okay."

"Thanks."

Without warning, Tigress jumped off the stand, and landed in the arena ring.

The crowd amazingly sprung back to life with the sign of her, and screamed as if their life depend on it.

Taking a deep breath and deep considering, she walked into the center, keeping her eyes fixed on the dragon. She turned to Long, waiting for approval. At first, he gave her a confused look, but then his lips curved into a smile, nodding as a sign of agreement.

The message was clear. Whenever a fighter finished his or her battle, whoever wished to challenge them further, can simply step into the ring. Her action certainly raised a confusion in the judges. But soon enough, one of them raised a hand, telling her to remain unmoved before a referee was sent in.

*

The black sun was clinging above the horizon. It will be a few more minutes before it's fully submerged.

Shifu was staring at his reflection, nervously watched as the mixture continued to ripple across the surface. The water was dark. Nothing had changed. In fact, none of a ripple.

"What now, master?" Viper grew impatient.

Crane abruptly stick a finger beside his beak, silently demanded her to keep quiet. She got the message, and reluctantly obeyed. Monkey looked through the hall entrance, watching the sun and the moon slowly separated; starting with a sharp flash at the side of the solar. Then, bit by bit, the white curve began to thicken.

Doubtless, the eclipse was starting to break. They had been waiting for the mixture to change, to bloom…. to show the second hellgate, for more than an hour after the mixture. But nothing had changed. They hate to admit it, the second Hellgate was never coming out.

So much for the story...

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Shifu muttered alone, not keeping his eyes off his reflection. Everyone turned to him, mouth bitter.

"Are there… Anything I should… be learning through this... happening?"

The sun began to settle, and the moon continued to move obliquely downward, further away from the bright ball of fire.

"I…" Shifu dropped to his hands, keeping himself above the water line, sobbing. "I haven't…" His tone was broken, and tears rolled down his chin. "I h-haven't seen the… last of them."

Watching her master crying was heartbreaking, and Viper couldn't hold it anymore. Her mouth started to tremble, slowly curving down at the ends. Her eyes began to flood with tears. Crane was not far either, sniffing as he covered the serpent under his wing, feeling her trembled under his feathers.

"If... If only I could…" Shifu muttered through his breath, "S-see them… One more t-time."

Mantis bit his lips, trying hard not to show his tears. Monkey had his eyes closed, casting down at the floor.

The two were not going to come back.

Shifu was breathing hard. His throat was dry, and he hardly speaks. A tear from his cheek dropped into the mixture, making a soft touch at the surface. A thin ripple was made, calming the waves that engulfed his own reflection.

A mournful day, ended with the sun settling behind them. Nobody talked, nobody moved, at least for the moment to pay their last respect. The room was getting dark, and the jades throughout the hall started to glimmer, covering the room in a thin layer of emerald green light.

Suddenly, something else happened.

The mixture in the basin became increasing dark, giving Shifu a shock that made him backed away from the water. Soon, what appears was no reflection. The water below the surface turned into a tunnel, opening their way deep beyond the floor could take. It was an abyss down below, and there was no end to it.

All of a sudden, rays of light shot through the water, enlightening the hall as they twirled and moved randomly with freedom. It was a breath taking moment to all of them. It was a display of magic across the room, a dance of fiery death coming into life.

An arm reached out the water, tapping the floor softly with its fingers before another one stretched out. Slowly, a grey figure roused above the water surface, completely had its fur soaked. It pulled itself out of the water, and laid aside, waiting as another figure squeezed its large belly through the basin.

What happened in front of them was indescribable beyond the words, and they could only watched with their jaw dropped.

*

Tigress stepped into the ring, inwardly having a hard time keeping her confidence alive. The image of how the wolf being kicked and punched seemed to replay themselves inside her head.

A frightening strength, a powerful grip, and a sickening punch. She now came face to face with an opponent she had never faced before, a dragon, one of the proudest races in the lands of China.

"Should I go over the rules?" The referee asked, standing between her and her opponent.

Tigress shook her head, but remembering that her opponent might wanted it. She turned to her, seemingly asking the same question through her eyes.

Yun smiled in return, and said, "No thanks, I already know them."

"Alright, let's go for it, wait for second gong though," the squirrel said as merrily as he can, though he doubted doing so could braced himself for what's coming next.

Of course! Master Tigress was going to fight in front of them. Who would want to miss it? It was going to be fast and furious. Not to mention she was facing another fearsome kung fu master from the south.

The squirrel raised the red flag, showing it to the judges - they nodded at the sight of it - and backed outside the ring.

Tigress breathed in deep, and exhaled. The first gong sounded.

The two warriors readied their stance, and the audience grew silence.

Master Long was smiling, comfortably straightened himself on his seat. _This was not a match to be missed._

Tigress's breath was getting harder. Her eyes were focused intensely on her opponent; Every blink and movements of the iris proved to make her feel vulnerable.

The second gong sounded, and silence swept over the scene.

The two warriors remained unmoved for a moment. Both of them were giving each other a tensed emotion through their eyes. Then, slowly, they circled the ring with each other at the opposite. Tigress kept her fists clenched hard, occasionally switching her stances for better movements.

Oh, yes. She knew her style. The dragon was more defensive than offensive. And she had to watch out for her grappling moves.

Tigress took the first charge to thrust out a punch. The dragon blocked it with her arm, retaliating with a fist in return. The feline blocked it at her arm too. They continued to exchange a series of strikes and blocks, until her opponent suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

Oh shit.

Next thing she knew, Tigress was thrown over the shoulder, up into the air. Her flight was short, before she saw Yun sprung at her, legs twirling in the air. She was upside down when she blocked the butterfly kick. Her body spun uncontrollably afterward. Her world was spinning, before she hit the ground with a bang on her face, quarterly paralyzed her senses. She could hear the crowd gasped as she lay on the ground, losing her sense of balance. Although she was tumbling on the floor, she felt like hitting a wall instead. It took her a moment to regain her feet. Luckily, her opponent decided to wait.

As soon as Tigress was up again, Yun began to charge at her. And it only took her a second to reach Tigress. The feline sent out a punch, but quickly reverted when the dragon scissor at her throat. Her arms quickly formed into two walls, blocking the attacks from both sides. Yun retracted herself quickly, only to replace by a front thrust. Tigress was no where behind, her arms quickly closed into a shield. But the momentum was unbearable, for her whole body was thrown off by the kick, and leaved her staggering backward with the pain in her bones.

What the hell? It felt like someone throwing a rock at her.

Yun made her next move, twirling a reversed kick into her face.

Still in recovery, Tigress managed to block it with one arm. Then, as quick as she moved, she leaped onto the dragon. Grabbing her by the shoulders, the feline repositioned herself quickly, and sent a downward kick into her opponent's face. Yun blocked it. But it was all Tigress had planned. Her foot quickly turned into a hook, and she let herself dropped behind the dragon. She kicked her opponent's back with her other foot, sending Yun off her feet. Quickly strangled Yun by the throat, Tigress swung her over the air, and slammed her back into the ground, head first.

The floor crackled at one shot.

The audience quickly screamed in excitment as Tigress flipped gracefully back to her feet. Even Master Long was amazed by the attack, unconsciously leaked a 'Wow!'.

Unfortunately, for Tigress's dissapointment, Yun didn't stay on the floor long enough. She back flipped onto her feet, as if nothing had happened.

The crowd's cheer instantly came to a hold, and a jaw dropped feline stood there gazing.

"What the..." Gritting her teeth, Tigress quickly returned her fighting stance again. "No kidding."

"Iron was the word," the dragon said as she massaged her head. "I guess you can call it a reputation we have earned."

With a battle roar, the two warriors leaped back at each other.

*

Mei Ling was in the backstage when she came across a group of trembling gooses.

"What's wrong," she asked one of them.

"T-the wolf, he got up and rampaged!"

Her expression turned serious. "Where is he now?"

"T-there, the magistrate came with four rhinos, and took him into the kitchen. He told us to leave them alone."

Mei Ling raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Far ahead, the kitchen door was shut up tight, and she could hear the chattering, more like bellowing. The gooses didn't seem to hear that, for her hearing was far beyond their limits.

"….You're lying!..." came the words. Pretty loud, but the gooses didn't hear.

Anxiously, she walked towards the door, slowly not to make a single sound.

"Urrh…. Miss!" one of the staffs called.

"Yes?"

"The… the magistrate don't want to be disturbed."

"Don't worry," Mei Ling said. "I won't get their attention."

The staffs nodded as approval.

"Now, now." The voice came again, from behind the door. "Don't be foolish. You're the one that failed me. At least, failed to yourself. You didn't win the fight, remember? So, I can't free you."

At first, Mei Ling didn't understand where the conversations were going, but when she remembered what Tigress had told her - about the wolf being an escaped prisoner and all, it _did_ rang a bell. At least, a little.

So the magistrate is involved in the… prison break?

"You fatass!"

Ouch, what a word, she thought. The room on the other side suddenly rumbled with chairs being thrown over, tables clumping together, and lastly, ended up with the sounds of pots dropping all over the ground. Sounds like a fight.

She turned to the staffs, and they looked shaken. Clearly, they must have heard the fight too. Of course, why not? It was as noisy as a singing hippo.

She knew there was four rhinos at the other side, so the wolf couldn't possibly win, could he?

"I see you're no better in that state." The voice spoke again. This time, it was clearly the magistrate alright. "Ha-ha. I doubt you can even stand up against the Furious Five, not anyone one of it. You just can't. You are too weak."

Right now, the other staffs joined her, peering their ears close to the door.

"I guess you're going back to jail eh?" They heard a sigh between the pause. "You been wasting my time long enough."

"You one sick pig of shit!"

"Ouch," muttered all of them together.

Then, another series of tumbling sounds continued, another attempt by the wolf, probably.

She gasped when the door flung open, and the wolf was thrown far across the hall. He hit at the side of the wall, falling unconsciously on his back.

The gooses ran all over the place when the magistrate came out, accompanied by the rhinos. Once he spotted Mei Ling, his face turned pale, "You! You sneaking up on us?!" he demanded.

"I…"

"Get her!"

Kuang's henchmen began to charge at her, and she did a couple of backflips to escape their grips. They are strong, and are very, very large compared to her size.

"Do you have any bamboo," Mei Ling asked at the gooses. "Or staff, or maybe pole?"

They shook their head.

Great.

One of the rhinos came charging at her, so she flipped over. Swiftly grabbing a cooking pan from the table, she hit him on the head.

*Pang!*

The rhino hit the floor on one strike, and laid there unconscious. The pan continued tol sing in her grip, shaking after the blow.

Wow, not bad. She smirked at her doing.

The other rhino charged in. She ducked over a fist, side stepped, and hit him at the back of the head. *Pang!*

She quickly dodged over a bull charge, avoiding completely to get behind the third rhino. *Pang!* Came the sound of the cooking pan again.

Then another one, in which she grabbed a cooking stick, and poked it into his stomach. The rhino let out a growl, arching his body over the pain. Obviously, his head was inches in front of her pan, so she just hit it.

*Pang!*

With that, the last rhino fell unconscious.

"You…" the magistrate bellowed. "I'll have you thrown into jail for this!"

Mei Ling frowned, not liking the idea of running around with the guards chasing her.

Just then, a voice interrupted, "Not necessarily."

Looking around, Mei Ling spotted Master Shifu standing at the door way, accompanied by two rhinos – Vachir and Jong. He was actually smiling.

"I want to listen to the story first." The red panda stepped closer between them. "Start with this one." He pointed over the unconscious wolf.

"What?!" the magistrate growled. "He is just a teacher from the Kuang's Academy, Master Shifu. Nothing more."

"And also an escaped prisoner." Shifu chuckled. "Just now, Vachir and his men came over to report the outbreak. Literally, they saw him battling the dragon, and wished to secure him."

"But-"

"They know it's your doing." Shifu's eyes narrowed, looking dead serious. "Your information is leaked. And your servants in the prison were bounded for guilty, thanks to you. Mister Magistrate."

Kuang fell silence at once.

*

Tigress was panting hard. Her body arched from the pains. The last grapple was a terrible one. She was flung into the floor before receiving a kick into the air. Dropping down was another bad things, she get another strike that sent her deep into the floor. Now, she barely stood.

It was scary. For the first time in her life, she never felt so helpless.

Two more referees had been added to the scene, just in case they missed a glimpse. Everything was fast, _very fast_. The audience were no longer cheering, all straightened up on their seat, sweating and biting their lips.

Tigress slowly got onto her feet. Trembling over the pain, she posed ready for another strike.

The judges looked over the sand clock. Time was almost up. If it is, the match would end, with the dragon as the winner. Tigress certainly fought well, but they counted the fight through the succeeding blows. At first, all of them were begging for a slow motion, because once the two engaged at each other, the marks went elevated in an incredible pace. So far they managed to keep up, but heavens know how many evasion and blocks they miscalculated.

Yun leaped in, fist in the air. But Tigress knew it was another fake attempt. She shoved it aside, but saw another one coming. She wanted to grab the fist, but instead the fist quickly opened up into a grapple, gripping her grip instead.

Great.

One of their arms had just locked dead on a duel grapples. But they managed to exchange another series of punch and kick, before the dragon grabbed her other arm, completely had it locked.

With a fearsome force, Yun lifted the feline over, up above her head. Tigress saw this one coming, literally swung her body quickly, giving herself a boost to make the dragon lost her balance.

Yun was pretty shock by the look, although it was a split second of eye contact in the air. Tigress managed to land on her feet next. With her remaining strength, she quickly swung the dragon over her shoulder.

A reversed grapple.

However, instead of hitting the floor, Yun landed on her feet again. Her grips remained as tight as a snare, and Tigress barely shook it off.

Fine, last resort.

Dodging a kick at her waist, Tigress pulled Yun close, and next thing she did, was banging their foreheads together, so hard that her senses came to a stop. Everything twirled over the pain. The grips loosened on contact, and they both fell lifelessly to the ground – Yun fell backwards, while Tigress dropped on her stomach.

The crowd gasped at the scene, and the referees was stunned. Judges all stood up, hoping to get a better view.

With her four on the ground, Tigress panted hard. Her head was aching horribly. She couldn't lift herself, not even a finger. In fact, her entire body was numbed.

"_What_," Yun hissed, sitting up straight. "Are you thinking?!"

Tigress could only smirk. Yeah, what am I thinking? That was the most reckless attempt.

But she must admit, the moment Yun started to talk, her heart seemed to have skipped a beat. The last headbutt should have hit her senseless as well, she was expecting her to lay there paralyzed.

Oh well, guess she had lost the match. Over the paralyze of her own body, Tigress couldn't even move anymore. She might as well quit, for now.

Just then, one of the referees came over, scanning at both of them. They returned the stare with confusion. Unexpectedly, the squirrel lifted a red flag.

"Out of the ring!" he called. "Tigress's the winner."

"Huh?"

Looking at the ground, Tigress noticed that she was... In fact, inches before the line, while Yun was sitting beyond it.

"Oh," the dragon sighed. "Guess that explained it."

The crowd began to cheer so hard that it boomed over her ears. People were jumping up and down on their seats, chanting "Tigress!.... Tigress!.... Tigress!" Some of them even screamed until they fainted, while some of them danced on the seats. Nonetheless, they were crazy supporters.

Tigress shut her eyes and smiled, listening as her name continued to chant over the air.

The judges couldn't help but to hug among themselves, tearing and throwing the records all over the place. They won't be needed anymore, once outside the ring, the winner was obvious. And hell with the marks going over hundred!

"Great, never thought you would had done that," a familiar voice hovered over the audiences'.

Tigress reopened her eyes, spotting two heads on top of her. One of them was black and white, and one was grey…

"Po?!" she gasped, turning to the second one. "And Tai Lung?"

The leopard snorted, crossing his arms. "Didn't see us coming? You really put up a good fight back there, girl."

"I-I was… I…" She stopped, frowning. "Am I dead?"

The two looked at each other, pretty much speechless.

"No, you aren't." Viper came into her view. "They were-"

"Back," Mantis interrupted. "From a long trip to somewhere."

Tigress smiled. "Right, and I wanna hear about it when this is over." She turned to Po. "Kay, o' Dragon Warrior?"

The panda hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure where I should begin."

"Better yet," Tai Lung said, "Better not."

The audience continued to roar behind them. This time, with a mixture of surprise to see the two reappearing. Mr. Ping quickly thrown himself over Po, crying and shouting "My boy! My son!"

"Dad, dad." Po felt embarassed, patting the goose by the back. "Not in front of the crowd please."

The gang then paused to look at the dragon, picking herself back up.

"So," Po started. "You must be the…"

"Visitor." She smiled. "From the south. The name is Yun."

"NICE TO MEET YOU! Master Yun!" Po stretched out his hand, but quickly retracted it. "I mean." He bowed. "Its an honor to meet you."

"The pleasure I will share." Yun returned the bow. "You are the… Dragon Warrior?"

Po blushed. "Oh, sure, what, I don't look like one? Nevermind, don't worry about it. Everyone questioned my obesity too. Hey, I'm quite famous for-"

"Ooookay," Tai Lung neck locked the panda, stopping him from trailing off. "I think it's time for some urrr…. Ending ceremony, don't you think?"

*

"That's preposterous!" Kuang bellowed. "I did _not_ help him escaped from the prison!"

"You know," Vachir turned to Shifu. "Maybe you got the wrong person. Maybe he is right."

"What?!" Shifu cried. A smile can be seen from Kuang.

"I mean," Vachir continued. "How could someone so _dumb_ would be the mastermind behind all this? Oh, _come_ on, don't look at me like that, look at him instead, that's one big pile of brainless meat you're accusing on, Shifu, you know that?"

With that said, Jong started to crack a laugh.

"How dare you call me that!" Kuang growled. "If it wasn't for me, Claw would have been rotted in jail!" As soon as his mind came back to sense, his lips fell into a halt.

Shifu, Jong and Ochir exchanged a look at each other. Finally Vachir broke out laughing. "See? I told you guys it will work."

The other two let out a sigh, reaching into their pockets and took out five silver coins, each. Yes, in other words, they had lost the bet.

"Guess you know your prisoner well," said Shifu.

"Hey, it works every time on those who think they are clever." Vachir received the coins from them.

"What!?"

"Take him away!" Jong ordered.

Kuang started to run, but two town guards quickly took hold of his arms, dragging him clumsily through the exit. "You buffoons! I'm NOT the one!"

Claw was not far behind, being held up tight by a rhino. He was so beat up that he didn't have the strength to struggle anymore. Both of them were thrown into the iron carriage,and the steel door slammed shut with Kuang's face shouting over the bars. "I'm not the ONE! HOW DARE YOU tricked me into saying that!"

"Wow, he got a really thick skull," said Vachir.

"Welcome to my world." Shifu smirked. "Anyway, how do you two like to stay for a dinner at the Jade Palace?"

"Wha-excuse me?" Vachir took a few steps away.

"Everyone is here, right?" Shifu chuckled. "Since you came from a long way too, why don't you stay for the night."

Vachir stared at him, as if he had grown a halo over his head. "S-sure, that's sounds…. Swell. I guess I can spare some time for my brother."

Vachir turned to Jong for approval, but instead he received a snort from him.

"What?" Jong crossed his arms. "You, on a family trip? Oh pl-lease. Not in a million years."

"Owwh come on," Vachir started making a baby face, "I bet you needed a hug from your brother." He rushed over Jong with his arms opened. "And to top it off, how about a brotherly kiss too?"

"Oh no, _NO_!" Jong staggered a few steps, accidentally toppled over a table. "You stay away!"

As soon as Vachir closed over him, Jong took off for a run. Everyone in the hall laughed as the two broke out in a wild goose chase. After a few squeaks and turns in the hall, both of them vanished through the exit.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Shifu turned to Mei Ling. "Thank you for taking care of the things in here."

"Nah, don't mention it." Mei Ling replied sheepishly. "I was just… Sorta.. Asked to help anyway."

"And you too, Zhan," Shifu turned to the ocelot.

"Anytime, boss."

This time, there was another cloaked figure standing behind the blacksmith. Shifu couldn't make out the face, but he could tell that it was an ocelot too, with her ears stretching out of the straw head like that. And he almost thought it was an assasin.

Anyway.... "Now," Shifu continued. "Like I had mentioned earlier. Care to stay for dinner?"

"Well," Mei Ling blushed. "I'll be more than honored."

"Sure thing, in the Jade Palace?" Zhan wondered. "That sounds really good."

"That's great!" Viper shouted from the entrance. Now, everyone was here.

"Hey, Mei Ling," Crane greeted.

"Wow Crane, it's good to see you!"

Mei Ling rushed over Crane and gave him a squeezing hug.

"Urrghh…." Crane couldn't hide his red face even if he tried to cover it under his feathers. His friends made a few murmurs and broke out laughing.

After releasing Crane, Mei Ling turned to the others. "Hey, guys! How's it been?"

"Well, I gotta say…" Tigress wondered playfully. "Never been better."

"Oh, you bet." Mantis hopped over Monkey's head. "With all what we had been through. I say it's a good turning point from here."

"I can't agree more," Tai Lung said.

"Hey, since everyone's around," Mantis began to suggest. "Why don't you guys share your little adventuring story."

Po and Tai Lung suddenly grew nervous.

"Wha-what, what adventure, there is no adventure, we just-"

"Sorta dropped in somehwere."

"Yeah, somewhere that we don't belong-"

"Somewhere..."

"Good! I mean... Screw that, its-"

"A weird place."

"Oh, I don't know." Viper cut them off, giggling. "But that definitely sound like an adventure to me, right guys?"

"Yeah!" Mantis agreed.

"Do tell, I'm so excited!" Crane laughed.

Shifu was happy watching the gang gathering in front of him. He was very pleased with Tai Lung and the panda back. And along with the magistrate's threats being taken off into the prison cell, he felt like having completely no worries at all for the rest of his life. Of course, he really doubted it. But for now, things were turning ten times more better than he had expected. Right now, he will have nothing else to describe, except a simple phrase…. And that would be,

"Awesome!" he screamed. Everyone abruptly came to a pause, staring at him with their eyes wide open.

"Urrhh… I mean," Shifu's eyes began to dart. "Blossom! You can wear them as a mark of peace and friendship during the dinner."

_Stupid reason, how lame._

For a moment he swore he was getting a cold sweat. Thank heaven that Po changed the subject. "I am not really sure about the sound of that, but still, I'll get things FIRED UP in the kitchen right away, master!"

"I'm right behind you." Tigress cherished. "Just in case you really put the kitchen on fire." The others laughed.

Mantis eagerly followed. "Great, I want a pot of hot noodles, with some hot peppers, and some long beans, and maybe some of that fish balls too.." The list went on and on as his voices trailed over the Jade Palace. The others continued to laugh as they followed close.

Smiling as he plodded, Shifu caught sign of Master Long standing unacompanied at the platform, overviewing the Palace Arena. The crowd had been cleared, and what was left was quiet. The sun had been long set, leaving only the stars sparkling in the night sky, partly covered up by the clouds that resembled piles of cotton wools. Crickets sung in the nearby forest, while the environment was getting little light from the red lanterns. He could feel the moisture breezely brushed through his skins, and the wind shifted his moustache as he plodded towards the dragon.

"So, urrmm…" Shifu began. "It's been a long day huh?"

"Oh?" Long turned to him, a bit shocked by his presence. "Ah, yes… I guess so. But full of meaning and memories too."

Shifu chuckled. "I can't agree more."

Long stared beyond the horizon. "It's a beautiful valley over here."

"Yeah." Shifu nodded. Then something came to his mind, and this time, he didn't hesitate to ask, "How do you know about Juan Gong?"

"Oh? You mean the old owl?"

"Urrh… I guess so."

So Juan Gong is an owl….

"He and I once lived in this valley together. Me, him, and Oogway were once good friends-"

"I'm sorry, but did you just mentioned Oogway?!"

"Why yes, of course." Long said. "We were travellers across the world, learning things that varied throughout the lands could offer."

Shifu's eyes widened. He never knew he had come so close to another great master.

"Eventually," Long sighed. "We came across this land and… Oogway fell in love with the scenery. He decided to make this place his home. And Juan Gong wanted to follow.

"But it came to my decision that I wished to travel back to my home town, to share things that I had once learnt throughout my years."

Turning to Shifu he smiled. "And I met you before my departure, when you're a young boy. At least, by at that time, Oogway only picked you as his student. His previous apprentices had just made their way across China."

Shifu's mouth gapped. Everything came flashing back through his mind: How he met Oogway, and how he ended up being one of the students under Oogway.

When he came back to his sense, Long was smiling down at him.

"I… urh… It's truly an honor to meet a great master that is friend of Oogway." Shifu bowed.

Long chuckled and waved his hand. "No fluttery, young one. No fluttery."

"Hey, masters!" Po called over the distance. "Dinner is almost served! Everyone's waiting!"

Turning to Long, Shifu smiled and asked, "Shall we?"

"Of course."

With that said, both of them plodded towards the kitchen. Moon light shone over the valley, without a moon in the sky and the stars sparkled throughout the endless universe. Shifu knew.... that deep in his heart, everything had finally made their turns.

On the next morning, Master Long and his clan will make their departure, to continue their lifetime pilverage across the lands of ancient wisdom, and beauty beyond scenery that would make you say...

"Wow"

---

The End

* * *

**Author's Note:** That's the end of story people. Thanks for watching. Hope you enjoyed. Please! Review! They are always more than welcome!

To reader

Luna Goldsun, I have been trying hard to recatch their personality ever since the first chap. But I guess I don't know how well I ended up.

AngelEtty, thank you for giving me some ideas of what I'm doing wrong. I really appreciate it.

Arceus Conberma, I really like things that are supernatural too, you know?

Lola Kristy, I know I skipped the part of what happened to Po and Tai Lung. There is a lot of thought putting on their progress after they dropped into the black hole. But eventually, I would ended up with problem progressing the story. So.... I had to take it out. Sorry! :3

Mildirk, sorry if things didn't turned up as scary as you predicted. ;) .... I also wanted the story to be scary too. But eventually, it had to end up this way.

So, folks. There is an alternate chapter regarding Po and Tai Lung's little adventure. It will take a bit longer this time since my school is starting - huh, Not a professional reason? XP. The only description of the world they would be is what Master Long had told Shifu. That's all I can say. And btw, I uploaded the picture of 'Yun' the dragon, in my deviantArt. The picture's name is Yun, but if you had problem going through, the URL is always in my profile.


	5. Tai's story

I was thinking a lot about the hole in my story. I thought I should dismiss it to any other story to fill in. But... I guess I really needed my own. So here is the gap filler. Its nothing much, no connection either, just what **Tai Lung** has to say for himself.

* * *

---

So you really want to know about what happened to me? *chuckle* That's a very interesting question. You really think Tai Lung did come back for good? Like turning over a new leaf? Right, as if that's going to happen.

For twenty years that I have rotted in jail, doing nothing but staring at the floor, thinking about what I had done wrong. No, I definitely did _nothing_ wrong. All I ever wanted was someone to acknowledge my skills, my talents, MY efforts! What did Shifu do when the day I should be known as the Dragon Warrior?! Nothing. When Oogway said so, he did nothing but obeyed.

*Chuckle*

Yet I hate to admit. His confession did touch me by little. *Hmph* But accepting everything now, only proved that I had agreed to see my entire life wasted before me. ONE THOUSANDS SCROLLS of Kung Fu, I wasted my time reading and horning my skills, ever so wanted to be the Dragon Warrior.

Now tell me, what is destiny hmmm? What do they know about destiny? If one was so destined to become the Dragon Warrior, what about those who had worked their life for it? No, my answer is, they certainly received nothing, nothing in return for their efforts, nothing in return for the rest of their life. All the destined one had to do was to wait for their _destiny_ to call them.

Wait, am I getting you bored? *Chuckled*

Nonsense, I shouldn't be talking about the past am I? Now that I am back in the Jade Palace and oh…. Yeah, that one huh?

Well, what do you know? That Wooshi Finger Hold was a success, but Po wasn't all about it. The pinpointed hold was a bit off, and of course I saw it. The power and energy surge never fully made their way into my body. Most of them just splattered of into the surrounding, like a waste of energy if you asked me. The ridiculously large ripples of the sand were the results.

What happened then? I escaped when the panda had his eyes blinded in the sands. Deep into the jungle, I stayed there for one month, until I was fully recovered. My armies were always there for their master. As soon as they found out about my return, they came to me. Together, another war was out, against the Jade Palace. Ha-ha-ha you should had seen the look on their faces by then. They were all sooo breaking up when they see my face again. I wanted to crush them head on. The Furious Five, the Dragon Warrior and …

No, I knew I was too weak for the Dragon Warrior. Don't know what the hell Shifu did to him, by one month the panda had already sharpened his skills, while I was still in recovery, doing nothing but sitting there killing the flies.

So what did I do next? I turned against my own forces. Yeah… *chuckle* it's a double cross, and I was good enough to do it. To hell with those who killed for fun anyway. I fight for my pride, but not for entertainment. The Jade Palace fell for my trick. And once more, I was able to get into the palace without any rejection. I was called the savior at once, granted and lifted as the honorable person.

Since then, everyone treated me different, as if that I am a hero. *Chuckle*

I know. I'm _evil_. That's the way I liked to be.

One day, I shall have my pride.

Keep your friend close, but your enemy _closer_.

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Author's Note: That's the end people. Thanks for coming in such a long way. Sorry to end things up like this. In fact, this chap should be a prolouge (should be put at the front). But, anyway. Just to let you know, this is my version of "Tai Lung". Yeah.. *scratch head* So, please give the final review aaaand... that's all.


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